DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK 


H  IRomance  of  tbe  Coming 


W.   J.   COLVILLE 

EDITOR  OP  "  THE  PROBLEM  OP  LIFE  " 

AUTHOR  OP  "  SPIRITUAL  THERAPEUTICS,"  "  STUDIES  IN  THBOSOPHT,' 
"ONB8IMU8  TEMPLETON,"  ETC. 


"  Happy  shall  he  be  that  taketh  and  dasheth  thy  little 
ones  against  the  rock" 

Psalm  cxxxvii.  9  (Revised  Version) 


BOSTON 

COLBY  &   RICH,   PUBLISHERS 

9  BOSWORTH  STREET 

1894 


COPYRIGHT,  1894, 
BY  W.  J.  COLVILLE. 


TYPOGRAPHY  BY  J.  S.  GUSHING  &  Co.,  BOSTON,  MASS.,  U.S.A. 


TO 

MY  VERY  DEAR  FRIEND  AND  NOBLE  BENEFACTOR 


.  JF.  E.  Her* 


THIS    BOOK    IS    RESPECTFULLY   AND    AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

IN   LOVING    MEMORY   OF   A    MUNIFICENT 
PHILANTHROPIC    EARTHLY    CAREER 

AND    IN    SINCERE    CONVICTION 
THAT    THOUGH    UNSEEN    BY   EYES    OF    FLESH 

THAT    GRACIOUS    LIFE 
IS   STILL    EXPANDING    IN   STRENGTH    AND    USEFULNESS 

W.  J.  COLVILLE 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  presenting  to  the  public  the  following  extraordi 
nary  romance,  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that 
I  am  not  in  any  sense  the  author  of  the  scientific  dis 
sertations  and  tables  which  form  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  volume. 

In  "  Onesimus  Templeton  "  I  gave  to  the  world  the 
outcome  of  some  truly  wonderful  experiences  which  came 
under  my  notice,  and  arrested  —  I  may  say,  literally 
compelled  —  my  attention  during  the  summer  of  1885, 
when  my  time  was  divided  between  France  and  England. 
That  wonderful  phenomena  did  indeed  occur,  that  the 
most  remarkable  cures  were  accomplished,  through  a 
subtle  agency  defying  exterior  analysis,  I  was  then 
thoroughly  convinced;  but  at  that  time  I  had  not  in 
my  possession  the  mysterious  —  and  yet  I  daresay  alto 
gether  natural,  even  though  spiritual  —  statements  con 
cerning  exact  science  which  I  now  introduce  into  these 
pages,  not  for  any  one's  blind  acceptance,  but  as  a 
challenge  to  whoever  may  desire  to  investigate,  or  even 
seek  to  disprove. 

We  are  certainly  living  in  an  age  of  scientific  inquiry 
and  marvellous  mechanical  achievement, — an  age,  more 
over,  which,  despite  its  vaunted  agnosticism,  is  to  an 
extent  deeply  interested  in  the  mysteries  of  the  psychic 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

realm  or  borderland,  to  use  the  most  popular  terms  at 
present. 

The  scope  of  a  novel  of  ordinary  dimensions  does  not 
of  course  permit  of  much  more  than  a  bare,  unelaborated 
recital  of  facts,  introduced  in  the  almost  transparent 
guise  of  assumed  fiction.  Some  readers  may  object  to 
the  extreme  plainness  of  speech  of  some  of  the  leading 
characters,  and  doubtless  there  are  those  who  would 
have  liked  to  suppress  all  contrast  between  genuine  and 
spurious  occultism;  but,  in  my  opinion,  to  show  only 
one  side  of  a  subject  is  misleading  and  unfair.  There 
are  far  too  many  people  yet  who  never  reason  or  dis 
criminate  ;  therefore  they  class  all  real  knowledge  con 
cerning  spiritual  things  with  the  veriest  chicanery  and 
dishonesty.  To  such  —  if  any  of  them  read  this  book  — 
it  may  be  a  revelation  to  find  that  in  the  same  narrative 
the  most  positive  expressions  of  entire  confidence  in  the 
reality  of  the  spiritual  are  placed  side  by  side  with  the 
most  unmistakable  uncoverings  of  fraud. 

The  time  has  now  certainly  come  to  unveil  —  to  all 
who  are  in  any  way  prepared  to  profit  by  such  unveiling 
—  the  subtle  operation  of  universal  Force  through  the 
action  of  unchanging  Law. 

It  is  also  decidedly  a  privilege  as  well  as  duty, 
devolving  upon  all  who  are  somewhat  acquainted  with 
the  facts  of  genuine  SCIENCE  to  discriminate  plainly 
and  boldly  between  scientific  teachings  which  are  purely 
THEISTIC  in  their  entire  trend  and  sciolistic  bombast, 
which  in  the  mouths  of  the  conceited  and  ill-informed 
is  made  a  pretext  for  denying  the  very  being  of  Supreme 
Intelligence,  and  heaping  ridicule  upon  all  who  sin- 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

cerely  trust  in  the  immortality  of  man  as  a  spiritual 
reality. 

The  unusual  and  distinctly  technical  terminology 
employed  in  some  of  the  most  important  sections  of  this 
story  may  be  considered  out  of  place  in  a  tale  con 
taining  some  amusing  incidents  and  ostensibly  published 
as  a  novel;  but,  whatever  may  be  the  appropriateness 
or  inappropriateness  of  introducing  such  matter  into 
a  romance,  I  had  no  alternative  but  to  do  what  I  have 
done  or  suppress  this  priceless  knowledge  altogether, 
for  I  have  only  received  it  on  trust  from  a  friend  who 
is  its  custodian  in  a  sense  that  I  am  not.  For  the  sake 
of  this  superlative  information  many  will  read  the  story, 
and  again,  because  of  the  story,  some  will  have  their 
attention  turned  to  this  astounding  revelation. 

I  know  beforehand  that  no  "  critic  "  will  have  a  word 
of  praise  for  so  unconventional  a  style  as  the  one  I  have 
adopted ;  but,  as  the  book  is  written  for  public  edifica 
tion,  not  to  please  the  fancy  of  cynical  know-it-alls, 
the  mission  of  the  volume  will  be  fulfilled  if  any  one 
anywhere,  no  matter  what  his  or  her  position  in  the 
world  may  be,  receives  light  from  its  pages ;  and  even 
those  who  get  only  entertainment  may  not  have  read  in 
vain,  for  to  be  entertained  is  frequently  to  be  cheered 
and  uplifted,  and  he  who  is  himself  upraised  becomes 
in  turn,  whether  he  knows  it  or  knows  it  not,  an 
uplifter  of  others. 

The  really  singular  feature  of  "  Aldebaran's  "  science 
and  philosophy  is  the  deep  spiritual-practical  lesson 
clearly  taught  through  even  the  abstrusest  portions. 
The  name  given  to  the  mystical  scientist  intentionally 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

conveys  the  idea  of  a  bright  cluster  of  stars,  not  of  a 
single  luminary ;  the  title  is  therefore  absolutely  true  in 
its  suggestiveness,  for  no  single  person  on  earth  is  the 
sole  possessor  of  important  truth  concerning  the  universe. 
Special  discoveries  along  particular  lines  are  made  by 
eminently  qualified  individuals,  who  are  in  relation 
spiritually  with  great  centres  of  knowledge  in  the 
unseen ;  but  there  are  in  all  parts  of  the  world  to-day, 
men  and  women  who  are  entitled  to  bear  the  glorious 
title  of  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  PERPETUAL  LIGHT. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  are  organized  into  soci 
eties  bearing  that  name ;  I  only  mean  that  such  a  title 
by  right  belongs  to  them;  and  I  further  declare,  and 
that  most  emphatically,  that  these  truly  illumined  men 
and  women  are  not  located  in  any  special  part  of  the 
world,  nor  is  there  any  other  way  of  joining  their  num 
ber,  save  through  inward  growth  and  the  qualification 
resulting  therefrom. 

I  am  sure  that  many  of  my  readers  will  be  speculating 
as  to  where  in  the  story  I  introduce  my  own  particular 
opinions.  I  do  not  care  to  afford  any  clue  to  my  private 
views  on  any  subject  in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  and 
this  for  two  reasons.  First,  inquisitive  prying  into  an 
author's  private  predilections  is  certainly  not  a  profitable 
occupation;  therefore  I  have  no  intention  of  deliber 
ately  setting  people  to  work  at  it.  Second,  one  of  the 
greatest  weaknesses  of  humanity  is  the  widespread, 
almost  universal  disposition  to  adopt  the  views  of 
some  person  rather  than  to  weigh  statements,  look  at  a 
subject  from  all  possible  points  of  view  and  then  arrive 
at  one's  own  unbiassed  conclusion.  I  do  not  pose  as  a 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

teacher;  I  am  in  these  pages  only  a  recorder,  and  as 
such  I  must  appear  before  the  world,  in  company  with 
all  novel-writers  in  this  age  of  the  novel,  who  discover 
that  the  deepest  philosophy  and  most  glorious  science 
must  be  introduced  in  the  guise  of  fiction  if  it  is  to  be 
considered  extensively. 

A  few  special  students  read  professedly  scientific  and 
philosophical  works,  but  everybody  reads  "  light  litera 
ture."  I  believe  conscientiously  in  the  influence  for 
good  both  of  the  novel  and  the  theatre,  consequently  I 
will  say  that  I  accord  most  cordial  assent  to  the  state 
ments  made  by  some  of  my  characters  regarding  the 
possibilities  of  these  great  popular  modern  institutions. 

It  will  be  quite  useless  for  any  one  to  inquire  of  me 
for  further  information  concerning  the  deepest  questions 
raised  in  this  volume.  I  have  disclosed  all  I  can  reveal 
for  the  present,  and  when  I  am  at  liberty  to  make 
further  disclosures  I  shall  publish  another  book;  but 
all  attempts  at  private  interviews  with  myself  will 
prove  utterly  fruitless.  I  expect  very  soon  to  be 
travelling  in  Europe,  and  possibly  in  other  continents ; 
I  have,  therefore,  no  address  save  that  of  my  publishers. 

I  shall  read,  I  daresay  with  great  interest,  the  various 
comments  upon  the  singular  revelations  with  which 
these  pages  abound,  and  I  shall,  of  course,  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  extent  of  the  sale  of  this  somewhat 
new  departure  in  the  line  of  romantic  literature. 
Works  treating  of  "  occult "  themes  are  indeed  plenti 
ful,  but,  we  hear  some  one  exclaiming:  Whoever  did 
hear  of  introducing  "  Scale  of  the  Forces  in  Octaves, " 
and  that  to  a  positively  bewildering  point  —  utterly 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

incomprehensible,  by  the  way —  into  a  novel,  positively 
a  NOVEL  ?  I  know  this  is  a  singular  proceeding,  dry, 
uninteresting,  unintelligible  to  the  drawing-room  young 
lady  and  the  moustache-twisting  dude,  but  for  them  the 
book  contains  decidedly  other  features,  in  which  even 
they  may  condescend  to  be  mildly  interested. 

The  scientific  world  will,  however,  pay  its  respects 
or  disrespects  to  this  unpretending  volume,  and  it  would 
indeed  be  worth  a  large  price  of  admission,  if  only  for 
amusement's  sake,  to  see  the  wiseacres  shaking  their 
heads  and  rubbing  their  foreheads  as  one  says  to  his 
crony,  "  But  where  in  the  name  of  possibility  did  the 
author  get  it  from?  Novel-writing  is,  I  daresay,  easy 
to  one  who  has  a  command  of  words  and  an  eye  for 
incidents,  but  whoever  could  invent  such  extraordinary 
tables  must  either  be  possessed  of  an  inexplicable  imagi 
nation,  or  else  be  actually  in  possession  of  some  very 
peculiar  knowledge." 

I  have  an  intimation  within  me  that  this  book  will 
make  a  stir  in  scientific  circles  by  reason  of  the  parts 
which  I  have  not  written  and  could  not  write.  To 
fulfil  its  strange  mission,  whatever  that  m&y  be,  I  com 
mit  it  to  the  wide,  wide  world. 

W.  J.    COLVILLE. 
Easter,  1894. 

N.B.  I  beg  most  earnestly  and  respectfully  to  call 
the  reader's  especial  attention  to  the  plates  or  diagrams, 
which  I  am  convinced  will  serve  to  illustrate,  and  I 
hope  elucidate,  some  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in 
science. 

W.  J.  C. 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IT  was  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  London,  an  unusually 
bright  beautiful  day  near  the  end  of  June,  when  a 
hard,  cold,  set  face  might  have  been  observed  gazing 
hopelessly  and  disdainfully  toward  the  great  cathedral 
of  St.  Paul,  whose  massive  gates  were  still  wide  open ; 
the  throng  who  had  been  in  attendance  at  the  imposing 
service  had  not  all  left  the  spacious  interior  of  this 
somewhat  gloomy  but  nevertheless  magnificent  monu 
ment  to  the  genius  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren. 

Claudius  Regulus  Monteith,  the  sad-eyed  cynic  who 
is  now  gazing  so  mercilessly  upon  the  departing  wor 
shippers,  sightseers,  and  musicians, —  who  all  congre 
gate  in  St.  Paul's  to  see  the  building,  listen  to  the 
splendid  choral  service,  and  some  to  pour  out  their 
honest  hearts  in  true  aspiration  toward  the  Supreme 
One  whom  no  church  can  contain  or  limit, —  is  a  well- 
built  man  about  forty-five  years  of  age;  his  frame  is 
strong  and  sinewy,  his  eyes  are  deep  set  and  of  a  dull 
leaden  hue,  though  occasionally  rare  gleams  of  sunshine 
flitting  through  them  prove  the  slumbering  presence  of 
a  soul  not  dead  but  deeply  sleeping;  his  head  is  massive, 

9 


10  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

with  heavy  beetling  brows,  and  thickly  covered  with  a 
heavy  iron-gray  thatch  of  rather  wiry  hair;  his  whole 
aspect  might  be  described  as  peculiarly  uninviting  by 
a  chance  passer-by,  but  a  second  glance  would  surely 
reveal  to  the  thoughtful  observer  the  presence  of  a 
mighty  even  though  perverted  intellect,  struggling 
against  almost  overwhelming  pressure  from  without,  to 
yield  to  the  persistent  voice  of  the  tempter,  "Curse 
Heaven,  then  die."  As  he  gazes  he  ruminates:  "What 
humbug  religion  is,  and  worse  than  humbug  —  what 
hideous  barbarity  is  it  that  calls  together  three  thousand 
men,  women,  and  children  on  a  summer  afternoon,  and 
then  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  superb  organ  and  in 
unison  with  the  voices  of  an  almost  perfect  choir,  com 
posed  largely  of  thoughtless  boys,  invites  this  multitude 
to  chant  the  137th  psalm,  which  finishes  a  wail  by  the 
waters  of  Babylon  with  a  vile  imprecation,  and  ends 
with  a  promise  of  happiness  for  those  who  curse  their 
enemies  and  practise  to  the  full  the  law  of  retaliation, — 
which  the  New  Testament  distinctly  condemns.  Then 
to  cap  the  climax  of  absurdest  incongruity, —  even  bar 
barism  might  be  logical, —  one  of  the  white-surpliced 
priests  of  this  heathenish  cult,  miscalled  Christianity, 
reads  words  ascribed  to  a  supposed  divine-human  Saviour 
flatly  contradicting  the  entire  spirit  of  the  psalm  sung 
only  a  few  minutes  before;  for  this  gospel  lesson 
emphatically  commands  us  'to  bless,  and  curse  not.' 
Are  the  clergy  mad?  Are  all  the  people  idiots?  And 
this  religion,  as  they  term  it,  is  said  to  be  heaven- 
appointed  to  establish  the  reign  of  universal  peace  and 
goodwill  on  earth, —  such  is  the  inconsistency  the.y 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  11 

claim.  Pshaw!  such  ridiculous  mummeries  are  enough 
to  convince  any  thinker  that  this  wretched  world  is  a 
vast  madhouse  where  nearly  all  the  inmates  are  hope 
lessly  insane ;  and  yet  the  one  woman  who  was  and  is  to 
me  the  beau  ideal  of  nature's  fairest  beauty  and  goodness 
believes  in  this  religion  —  no,  not  in  this  religion, 
thank  reason,  but  in  a  religion  widely  different  from 
this ;  for  she  always  declared  the  letter  killeth  though 
the  spirit  giveth  life  —  but,  oh!  that  elusive  spirit, 
what  is  it?  where  is  it?  can  anybody  see,  hear,  taste, 
smell,  or  touch  it?  What  does  it  weigh  and  measure? 
how  can  science  grapple  with  it?  Alas!  alas!  such 
dreams  as  fairy  maidens  dream  are  but  beautiful  conceits 
woven  of  charming  fancy,  but  like  the  mirage  in  the 
desert,  fleeting  and  false.  'Blessed  shall  he  be  who 
taketh  thy  little  ones  and  dasheth  them  against  the  rock. ' 
What  could  Lavinia  say  to  that,  she  who  loved  children 
so  dearly  and  never  could  pass  a  weeping  child  without 
a  word  of  comfort  to  still  its  cry  ?  Spirit,  they  say,  is 
immortal;  but  where  does  it  keep  itself?  what  is  it, 
anyway?"  Thus  darkly  cogitating  he  hears  a  soft  low 
voice.  Was  it  the  slanting  sunbeam  which  spoke,  was 
it  the  voice  of  a  passer-by,  was  it  "unconscious  cere 
bration  "  f 

Whatever  it  may  have  been,  Claudius  Regulus  Mon- 
teith,  cynic  and  agnostic,  heard,  or  thought  he  heard, 
within  his  ear  a  voice  so  soft  and  sweet  that  its  dulcet 
notes  carried  him  back  to  the  halycon  days  of  his 
earliest  manhood,  and  to  the  lemon  groves  of  Sicily;  for 
the  words  were  those  which  had  fallen  twenty  years  ago 
from  the  dying  lips  of  the  adored  Lavinia,  who,  as  she 


12  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

yielded  up  her  fair  body  to  the  embrace  of  death,  smiled 
radiantly  with  eyes  full  of  triumph,  as  she  uttered 
words  which  had  ever  been  her  life  talisman:  Semper 
credo  in  vitam  ceternam.  —  Always  do  I  believe  in  the 
life  eternal. 

Guided  by  an  irresistible,  or  at  all  events  an  unre- 
sisted,  impulse,  the  man  who  hears  these  words  of 
undying  faith  ringing  in  his  doubting  ear,  goes  back 
to  the  cathedral  steps,  and  again  mounting  them  enters 
the  sombre  interior  just  as  the  last  of  the  congregation 
file  out  through  the  heavy  door  which  the  verger  is  now 
closing,  but  which  he  does  not  lock,  as  another  service 
will  commence  at  seven,  and  it  is  now  considerably 
after  five.  The  organ  is  now  silent,  the  choir  stalls  are 
vacant,  the  chairs,  which  were  all  occupied  half  an  hour 
ago,  are  now  completely  deserted,  and  the  great  church 
seems  vainly  endeavoring  to  recover  from  the  excitement 
of  the  fashionable  choral  service  so  recently  ended,  and 
become  what  a  church  should  ever  be, —  a  haven  of  rest 
for  the  myriad  toilers  who  are  invited  through  its  con 
stantly  open  doors  to  rest  beneath  the  imposing  canopy 
of  its  majestic  roof  and  dome.  Sleep,  that  ever-welcome 
guest  to  those  who  are  weighted  with  care,  falls  ten 
derly,  softly,  suddenly,  over  the  weary  intellect  of  the 
hopeless  doubter,  as  he  throws  himself  into  a  chair  near 
the  chancel  rails  and  sets  to  work  to  puzzle  out  if  pos 
sible  the  cause  and  meaning  of  the  strange  but  sweet 
hallucination  which  has  just  overtaken  him.  But  he 
cannot  think;  his  reasoning  faculty  seems  totally  be 
numbed,  his  materialistic  theories  have  all  deserted 
him,  and  for  the  space  of  fully  an  hour  he  and  his 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOCK.  13 

beloved  are  together, —  where  or  how  he  does  not  know 
and  cannot  decide.  Once  again  semper  credo  in  vitam 
ceternam  falls  upon  or  into  his  ear,  and  he  wakes  with  a 
start  to  find  the  gas-jets  lighted  and  a  congregation 
assembling  for  the  second  evening  service. 

Having  no  desire  to  hear  repeated  the  ecclesiastical 
ritual  of  the  afternoon,  Professor  Monteith  strolls  out 
through  the  side  entrance  on  to  Cheapside  and  walks 
aimlessly,  and  yet  it  seemed  to  him  for  some  definite 
end,  in  the  direction  of  Argyle  Square,  where,  though 
not  to  his  previous  knowledge,  is  situated  one  of  the 
largest  Swedenborgian  places  of  worship  in  London. 

On  reaching  the  square  and  coming  unexpectedly  in 
front  of  the  New  Jerusalem  Church,  his  attention  is  at 
once  attracted  by  the  words,  "  Dashed  against  the  Rock," 
which  is  the  topic  announced  for  the  discourse  on  that 
particular  evening,  as  one  of  a  protracted  series  of  ser 
mons  on  "Dark  Sayings  of  Holy  Writ."  The  service 
has  already  commenced,  and  feeling  strangely  impelled 
to  enter,  the  professor,  who  begins  to  think  himself 
haunted  by  that  awful  text,  takes  a  seat  in  the  rear 
of  the  handsome,  well-filled  church,  and  soon  becomes 
impressed  with  the  earnestness  of  the  minister's  tone, 
who  is  reading  the  same  lesson  from  the  Gospel  according 
to  St.  Matthew  he  had  heard  at  St.  Paul's  a  few  hours 
earlier.  This  time  the  clear,  wonderful,  though  simple 
words  did  not  seem  the  mockery  they  had  appeared 
before  to  this  world-weary  listener;  for  the  well-modu 
lated  intonation  of  the  reader  carried  with  it  the  con 
viction  that  the  man  who  was  then  reading  them  desired 
to  be  true  to  their  spirit  in  his  own  life  and  teachings, 


14  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

and  also  to  help  others  to  become  true  likewise  to  the 
noble  precepts  therein  contained.  Fine  music  and 
hearty  prayers  led  up  to  the  sermon,  which  was  a 
perfect  revelation  to  at  least  one  of  the  listeners;  for 
with  all  his  learning  Professor  Monteith  had  never  read 
Swedenborg,  and  was  totally  unacquainted  with  that 
wonderful  teacher's  remarkable  theory  of  correspondence 
as  applied  to  the  text  of  much  of  the  Bible.  Dr. 
Presland  spoke  directly  to  the  point,  and  as  this  was 
the  seventh  in  a  series  of  twelve  lectures  on  a  general 
theme,  he  spent  no  time  on  elucidating  the  doctrine  of 
the  interior  sense  of  Sacred  Scripture,  but  launched  at 
once  into  the  depth  of  the  assertion  that  whenever  rock 
or  stone  is  mentioned  in  Holy  Writ,  it  signifies  founda 
tion  principle  of  truth. 

"The  Jewish  Law  contains,"  said  this  eloquent 
pastor,  "an  inner  meaning  which  the  Gospel  discloses. 
When  Christ  condemns  self-righteous  Pharisees  by  con 
victing  them  of  their  personal  transgressions  through 
arousing  within  them  a  sense  of  right  and  purity,  he 
abrogates  the  harsh  letter  of  Mosaism,  but  fulfils  the 
Law  in  love.  The  letter  vanishes  from  sight  when 
its  work  is  completed.  The  woman  taken  in  the  act 
of  adultery  is  to-  be  spiritually,  not  literally,  stoned. 
Our  enemies,  my  friends,"  continued  the  preacher, 
"are  not  our  personal  foes,  they  are  our  own  illicit 
appetites ;  the  children  of  the  daughter  of  Babylon  are 
the  offspring  of  an  iniquitous  mental  state,  and  when 
these  results  of  error  are  brought  into  collision  with 
the  rock  of  truth,  sin  dies,  and  man  is  new-born  to 
righteousness." 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  15 

After  an  earnest  plea  in  favor  of  mercy  as  the  in 
separable  associate  of  divine  justice,  the  speaker  dis 
missed  his  hearers  with  the  assurance  that  the  darkest 
parables  of  Scripture  are  full  of  goodness  and  truth,  as 
they  emanate  from  infinite  love  and  wisdom. 

"Well,  here  at  least  is  consistency,"  mused  the 
professor,  as  he  slowly  wended  his  way  to  his  chambers 
in  Russel  Square,  Bloomsbury,  where  he  lived  in  bache 
lor  apartments,  a  lonely,  loveless  life,  cheered  only  by 
the  chill  moonbeams  of  physical  research.  His  laboratory 
interested  his  intellect,  but  it  never  satisfied  his  emo 
tions,  and  despite  his  cynicism,  affection  was  to  him 
what  light  and  air  are  to  flowers  and  birds.  This  man's 
intellect  was  suffocating  his  affection ;  for  he  saw  only 
a  barren  waste  of  boundless  territory  ruled  by  an  iron 
force  he  vaguely  described  as  Law ;  to  his  sad,  discon 
tented  mind  the  universe  was  totally  unlighted  by  even 
a  solitary  beam  of  beneficence,  save  only  when  such  an 
experience  visited  him  as  had  come  that  very  afternoon ; 
and  that  was  the  sweet,  lingering  reminiscence,  so  he 
termed  it,  of  an  idol  of  his  youth  who  had  promised  him 
on  her  deathbed  that  were  it  possible  she  would  reveal 
herself  to  him  as  his  deathless  friend  and  guardian. 
And  now  he  questions  more  seriously  than  ever;  had 
that  promise  been  fulfilled?  had  she  really  spoken 
within  him  twice  that  day?  was  it  possible  that  he  and 
she  had  spent  an  hour  together  in  dreamland  while 
he  was  sleeping  after  evensong  in  the  cathedral?  and 
could  it  have  been  she  who  directed  his  steps  to  the 
church  in  Argyle  Square  in  order  that  the  tumultuous 
passion  against  religion  in  his  brain  might  be  stilled 


16  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

by  a  new  suggestive   inference   drawn   from  a  long- 
detested  text? 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Claudius  Regulus  Monteith  was 
less  a  cynic  when  his  head  touched  -his  pillow  that  night 
than  he  had  been  for  the  past  twenty  years.  "After 
all,"  he  murmured  as  he  fell  asleep,  "love  is  better 
than  hate ;  faith  is  better  than  despair,  even  in  this  old 
sad  world  where  the  shadows  so  far  outnumber  the 
sunbeams ;  and  if  it  is  only  a  delusion,  well,  the  cheat 
is  so  comforting  it  may  be  best  sometimes  to  give  way 
to  our  illusions,  but  anyway  I'll  learn  whatever  I  can 
of  this  new  philosophy  I  have  heard  so  ably  expounded. 
I'll  call  to-morrow  morning  on  the  brilliant  novelist, 
Visalia  Discalcelis,  whom  I  met  at  Dr.  Ferguson's  Liter 
ary  Matinee  last  Thursday.  I  know  I  acted  like  a  bear 
when  I  told  her  she  wrote  silly  ghost  stories  and  tried 
to  dress  them  up  in  the  livery  of  science ;  but  she  was 
not  at  all  offended,  and  only  said :  '  Well,  we  shall  have 
time  to  discuss  that  question  if  you  call  on  me  next 
Monday,  when  I  shall  receive  a  few  friends  from  two 
till  six ;  but  if  you  desire  comparative  privacy  for  your 
talk,  make  your  visit  at  eleven  in  the  morning.' 

"This  Madame  Discalcelis,"  he  pondered,  "is  a  very 
curious  woman ;  she  frequently  turns  away  in  haughty 
coldness  from  her  flatterers  and  then  makes  instant 
friends  with  old  boors  like  myself  who  have  positively 
insulted  her.  She  is  a  strange  being  and  evidently 
sincere;  if  any  one  could  make  me  believe  in  immor 
tality,  it  "would  be  some  one  like  that  woman.  Well, 
anyway,  we'll  see  what  to-morrow  brings  forth."  And 
he  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FAITH   VS.    AGNOSTICISM. 
SINCERITY   VS.    SHAM. 

THE  morning  of  the  day  following  rose  bright  and 
clear;  all  nature  seemed  to  smile  and  sing  in  opposition 
to  the  pessimistic  plaint  of  the  poor  professor,  to  whom 
the  world  had  for  twenty  years  appeared  nothing  but 
a  dreary  wilderness,  with  here  and  there  a  faint  tiny 
oasis  of  illusory  brightness.  To-day  his  mood  is  slightly 
sweeter  than  its  accustomed  wont;  he  has  had  no  more 
remarkable  dreams,  but  his  sleep  has  been  profound,  and 
the  hour  of  waking  found  him  less  restless  than  usual ; 
though  he  with  long-accustomed  habit  has  determined  to 
shake  from  him,  as  far  as  possible,  the  glimmering  faith 
which  surely  daAvned,  even  though  but  faintly,  in  his 
soul  the  night  before,  telling  him  of  the  real  presence 
of  a  spiritual  universe,  where  the  living  die  not,  and 
where  his  dearest  angel  dwelt,  untouched  by  the  ravag 
ing  hand  of  mortal  dissolution. 

"Well,  I'll  go  and  see  her,"  decided  the  professor; 
and  as  to  carry  a  mental  determination  into  immediate 
action  was  his  life-habit,  eleven  o'clock  found  him 
ringing  the  bell  at  the  door  of  a  charming  villa  resi 
dence  in  the  most  delightful  part  of  Bayswater. 

17 


18  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK. 

Madame  Visalia  Discalcelis  was  domiciled  during 
the  London  season  with  her  most  intimate  friends,  the 
Eastlake-Gores,  at  whose  hospitable  home  in  Hants  she 
always  spent  Christmas  tide,  and  indeed  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  winter.  Mrs.  Gore,  a  widow  in  middle 
life,  received  Professor  Monteith  in  her  private  sitting- 
room,  which  was  a  rendezvous  for  the  entire  family  at 
any  time;  for,  though  a  lady  of  true  refinement  and 
tender  susceptibilities,  Mrs.  Gore  was  literally  without 
nerves,  i.e.  nerves  in  a  pathological  condition. 

"Can  I  see  Madame  Discalcelis?  I  believe  she 
resides  with  you.  Eleven  in  the  morning  seems  an 
unseasonable  visiting  'hour,  but  she  Avrote  in  pencil  on 
her  visiting-card,  a  few  evenings  ago  at  Lady  Por- 
chester's,  'come  at  eleven  in  the  morning  when  you 
want  to  talk  with  me.'  I  have  read  her  latest  book, 
Askalon,  with  deep  interest,  and  was  much  pleased  to 
meet  the  authoress  of  so  wonderful  a  story ;  but  though 
I  am  sure  her  talent  is  marvellous,  I  told  her  frankly 
the  other  evening  that  her  conclusions  relating  to  man's 
spiritual  life  here  and  hereafter  were  utterly  unsup 
ported  by  science;  and  we,  who  are  giving  our  entire 
lives  to  scientific  researches,  can  scarcely  be  expected 
to  credit  as  sober  realities  the  dream-creations  of  our 
poets." 

"  Pardon  me,  my  dear  sir,  I  do  not  in  the  least  know 
why  we  should  not;  poets  are  the  greatest  scientists 
alive."  broke  in  suddenly  the  ringing,  happy  voice  of 
Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore's  only  son,  the  pride  and  joy  of  her 
motherhood. 

Arthur  Selwyn  Eastlake-Gore  was  one  of  those  ex- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  19 

ceptional  3Toung  men  who  strike  people  at  once  as  being 
thoroughly  normal.  Extremely  handsome  in  personal 
appearance,  erect  in  bearing,  perfectly  dressed,  and 
absolutely  well-bred,  he  was  nevertheless  what  the 
world  calls  a  mystic  and  a  dreamer.  Though  an  Oxford 
graduate  with  high  honors,  and  a  perfect  athlete,  he 
could  demonstrate  almost  every  phase  of  "  mediumship  " 
that  is  really  genuine,  as  easily  as  he  could  solve  a 
problem  in  Euclid.  But  instead  of  spurning  society 
and  going  into  a  tomb  to  develop  psychic  qualities,  he 
had  from  early  boyhood  been  distinguished  for  his  love 
of  all  that  makes  life  attractive  to  the  young  and 
healthy.  Coming  as  it  did  from  a  stylish  young  gen 
tleman  of  extremely  aristocratic  bearing,  this  tribute 
to  the  veracity  of  the  Muses  struck  the  devotee  of 
"exact  science  only"  as  strikingly  incongruous,  and 
the  only  reply  he  vouchsafed  was :  "  My  young  friend, 
twenty  years  from  now,  you  will  have  learned  to  dis 
trust  the  poets." 

At  this  juncture  Visalia  Discalcelis  entered  the 
room,  accompanied  by  the  daughter  of  her  hostess, —  a 
girl  fully  as  handsome  as  her  brother  and  about  three 
years  his  junior,  with  all  the  manifest  traits  which  show 
near  relationship  in  mind  as  well  as  body.  As  the  two 
young  ladies  entered  together,  they  formed  a  striking 
tableau:  the  authoress,  the  elder  of  the  two,  would, 
according  to  physical  measurement,  be  called  a  small 
woman,  for  she  was  neither  tall  nor  stout;  but  her 
intense  individuality,  sparkling  but  not  obtrusive,  made 
it  impossible  for  any  one  to  doubt  the  unusual  size,  or 
at  least  quality,  of  her  intellect.  Unlike  most  Italians, 


20  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK. 

she  was  fair  rather  than  dark;  her  skin  was  pink  and 
white,  natural  roses  and  lilies,  her  light,  wavy  chestnut 
hair  disported  itself  in  spontaneous  little  curls  all  over 
her  well-shaped  head,  while  her  deep  hazel  eyes  looked 
into  you  and  through  you,  as  though  she  could  read  the 
very  depths  of  a  human  soul. 

The  glance  she  gave  Professor  Monteith  was  grave 
and  kindly,  though  there  was  a  touch  of  rebuke  in  it, 
as  she  extended  her  hand,  saying :  "  Let  us  be  sure  our 
science  is  exact  before  we  proclaim  it  as  such." 

"My  dear  madam,"  began  the  professor,  after  he  had 
learned  that  Madame  Discalcelis  was  ready  for  a  two 
hours'  confab  with  him  regarding  the  mysteries  of  the 
universe,  "you  state  that  man  can  know  that  his  spirit 
is  immortal,  and  in  your  latest  book  you  tell  us  it  is 
our  own  perverse  blindness  and  nothing  else  that  bars 
the  gates  of  paradise  against  our  outward  life ;  but  how 
can  this  be  true,  when,  during  the  past  twenty  years,  I 
have  been  seeking  everywhere  for  light,  and  have  found 
only  darkness  ?  " 

"  Have  you  been  seeking  only  for  truth,  or  have  you 
not  rather  been  striving  to  confirm  certain  vague  though 
ironclad  opinions,  such  as  the  exploded  vagary  of  spon 
taneous  generation,  for  example?  Believe  me,  my 
friend,  the  vision  you  enjoyed  yesterday  was  a  million 
times  more  real  than  all  the  objects  we  discern  with 
our  mortal  eyes.  I  do  not  profess  adherence  to  the 
tenets  of  Swedenborg  to  the  extent  that  those  good 
people  do,  whose  church  you  attended  last  evening ;  but 
I  speak  from  knowledge  when  I  tell  you  that  the  sermon 
you  heard  last  night  was  worth  a  million  so-called 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  21 

scientific  discoveries  as  a  contribution  to  the  world's 
peace  and  general  welfare." 

"My  very  dear  madam,"  remonstrated  the  professor, 
excitedly,  "you  use  a  woman's  emotion,  while  /employ 
a  man's  intellect  to  defend  a  position ;  but  how  did  you 
guess  at  my  dream  of  yesterday,  and  then  also  at  my 
visit  to  Argyle  Square  later?  Do  you  profess  clair 
voyance,  may  I  ask?  Dr.  Closingshell,  at  the  Poly 
technic,  told  us  only  a  few  weeks  ago  that  we  should 
in  fifty  years  from  now  have  elevated  clairvoyance  to 
the  rank  of  a  science.  I  disagreed  with  him  at  the 
time ;  but  if  you  tell  me  your  informant  as  to  my  where 
abouts  yesterday  was  your  own  '  psychic  sense, '  I  shall 
certainly  be  compelled  to  reconsider  my  decision." 

"  Compelled,  did  you  say?  Oh  dear,  no,  not  in  the 
least ;  we  are  compelled  to  do  nothing ;  the  foolish  belief 
in  necessity  is  in  my  opinion  a  relic  of  barbarism 
rapidly  becoming  effete;  you  can  accept  or  reject  the 
evidences  of  the  soul  exactly  as  you  desire.  I  simply 
relate  to  you  an  incident,  and  you  can  credit  or  discredit 
it  as  you  please.  Acceptance  or  rejection  of  proffered 
evidence  is  purely  voluntary;  we  can  believe  or  dis 
believe  whatever  we  choose." 

"My  dearest  madam,"  literally  shrieked  the  professor, 
now  utterly  beside  himself  with  protest,  "  what  are  you 
dreaming  about  ?  Science  proves  ;  I  say  it  proves  that 
man  has  no  more  liberty  to  elect  his  course  than  your 
slippers  have  to  decide  whether  they  will  or  will  not  be 
placed  upon  your  feet ;  we  are  all  the  abject  slaves  of 
environment,  and  have  not  a  particle  of  freedom;  the 
theological  fiction  of  human  free  agency  is  one  of  the 


22  DASHED   AGAINST   THE    BOCK. 

ghastliest  mockeries  ever  imposed  by  designing  priests 
upon  credulous  humanity." 

"Doubtless,  so  it  appears  to  you,"  rejoined  the  fair 
Visalia,  who  fastened  her  piercing  though  kindly  eyes 
directly  upon  her  visitor,  as  though  she  could  and  would 
penetrate  to  the  very  core  of  his  nature ;  "  that  is  why 
you  are  at  this  hour  a  self-confessed  failure,  a  restless 
spirit,  complaining  against  what  you  term  *  cruel, 
relentless  fate.'  It  is  the  soul  within  you  which  is 
ever  urging  upon  you  the  necessity,  not  of  yielding  to 
the  supposed  inevitable,  but  of  conquering  destiny  by 
your  might  as  man." 

"Conquer  destiny?"  literally  screamed  the  now  al 
most  frantic  disciple  of  blind  Necessarius ;  "  destiny  is 
immutably  fixed  in  the  constitution  of  the  universe. 
Conquer  destiny,  madam  ?  You  can,  maybe,  when  water 
and  fire  cease  to  seek  and  find  their  respective  levels ;  or 
when  oranges  grow  on  pear-trees,  and  lemons  are  pro 
duced  from  thorns.  I  cannot  conceive  it  possible  that 
a  woman  possessing  the  education  which  is  undoubtedly 
yours  can,  for  a  single  instant,  question  the  absolute 
immutability  of  law.  Pope  may  have  been  wrong  when 
he  said,  'Whatever  is,  is  right'';  whatever  is  may  be 
wrong,  for  all  I  know,  but  it  is  certainly  inevitable." 

"Poor  fellow,  I  am  heartily  sorry  for  you,"  was  the 
only  response  which  this  tirade  elicited  from  Madame 
Discalcelis,  who  in  her  quite  brief  career  as  a  popular 
authoress  had  met  and  corresponded  with  hundreds  of 
just  such  cases,  all  of  which  she  regarded  as  distinctly 
pathological  specimens,  needing  more  thorough  and 
skilful  handling  than  she  felt  personally  able  to  bestow ; 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  23 

she  therefore  never  sought  to  pose  in  the  r61e  of  a  great 
teacher,  but  only  strove  to  help  the  really  honest  ones 
who  came  to  her,  as  best  she  might,  to  a  clearer  appre 
hension  of  the  truth  she  herself  was  only,  as  she  felt, 
just  beginning  to  learn. 

"The  wheel  of  the  law,  my  dear,  the  wheel  of  the 
law,"  harshly  broke  in  upon  the  momentary  silence 
which  followed  Visalia's  expression  of  sorrow  for  the 
mental  attitude  of  her  interlocutor ;  and  turning  in  the 
direction  whence  the  rasping  voice  proceeded,  the  as 
sembled  company  beheld  standing  in  the  doorway  Ma 
dame  Sanskrita  Bromleykite,  an  English  resident  of 
Calcutta,  who  had  married  an  Oriental  and  was  now 
with  her  husband  occupying  the  adjoining  villa  to  that 
rented  for  the  season  by  the  Eastlake-Gores,  who  were 
almost  the  only  people  whose  residence  afforded  Madame 
Discalcelis  what  she  considered  a  home. 

"  The  Gores  live  in  a  home  ;  other  friends  of  mine  exist 
in  residences,  and  I  prefer  the  former  to  the  latter, 
infinitely,"  was  Visalia's  invariable  response,  when  she 
was  asked  why  she  always  resided  with  the  same  family 
when  so  many  pleasant  and  fashionable  houses  were  open 
to  her. 

Mrs.  Bromleykite  had  just  dropped  in,  to  use  her  own 
phrase,  —  which  was  admirably  descriptive  of  her  pecu 
liar  movements,  —  to  ask,  as  a  great  favor,  the  loan  of  a 
few  plates,  cups  and  saucers,  and  spoons,  for  a  theo- 
sophical  soiree  to  be  held  at  her  rooms  that  evening; 
also  to  request  everybody  to  request  everybody  else  to 
sell  tickets  for  the  illustrious  Pundita  Kamadevacha's 
lecture  on  "The  Secret  Doctrine,"  to  be  given  under 


24  DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK. 

Mrs.  Bromleykite's  own  distinguished  auspices,  at  St. 
James'  Hall  on  the  ensuing  Monday  evening.  Mrs. 
Bromleykite  was  a  wonderful  talker;  her  quotations 
from  ancient  Sanscrit  documents  were  truly  amazing, 
and  —  whenever  the  conditions  were  favorable  —  the 
massive  silver  collar  would  be  removed,  by  "occult 
agency,"  from  the  neck  of  Lady  Porchester's  pet  pug 
and  placed  in  the  pocket  of  that  worthy  lady's  constant 
and  devoted  friend  and  companion,  Miss  Katherine 
Poyntz.  This  phenomenon,  however,  was  very  rare, 
and  could  only  be  produced  when  the  "  masters  "  gave 
special,  though  reluctant,  permission. 

Any  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  modernized 
Orientalism  will  experience  very  little  difficulty  in  sur 
mising  the  exact  nature  of  the  conversation  which 
ensued  during  the  next  half-hour  between  the  highly 
excited  professor  and  the  no  less  enthusiastic,  though 
far  less  gloomy  and  despondent,  Madame  Bromleykite. 
At  length  Madame  Discalcelis,  availing  herself  of  a 
break  in  the  buzz,  said  in  clear,  decided  tones, — and 
when  she  was  particularly  decided  she  was  decidedly 
majestic :  — 

"  Your  blind  quibblings  over  destiny  are  but  as  the 
froth  upon  the  surface  of  the  lightest  table  beer;  you 
are  right  and  you  are  wrong ;  there  is  Necessity,  but  it 
is  Divine  Order;  God  is  the  Source  of  all  Law,  and 
therefore  your  freedom  and  mine,  real  though  it  be,  is 
God's  will  concerning  us.  You,  my  studious  professor, 
will  have  further  spiritual  visions;  and  you,  Mrs. 
Bromleykite,  had  better  study  the  New  Testament  as 
well  as  the  Vedas." 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOCK.  25 

"Study  the  New  Testament,  indeed,"  contemptuously 
sniffed  Mrs.  Bromleykite;  "haven't  I  been  made  to 
study  it  from  the  time  I  was  a  little  girl,  when  my 
father  literally  forced  me  to  learn  a  whole  chapter  every 
Sunday  afternoon  ?  If  you  Englishwomen  are  going  to 
cling  with  such  stupid  obstinacy  to  your  old  Gospels, 
no  wonder  our  illustrious,  but  too  often,  alas,  rejected, 
pundits,  make  the  return  voyage  to  India  without 
having  secured  more  than  two,  or  at  most  three,  con 
verts  to  Esoteric  Buddhism.  I  have  read  Askalon,  and 
I  must  say  you  hit  some  hypocrites  pretty  hard,  but  you 
are  not  the  right  kind  of  a  theosophist  by  any  means ; 
and  as  for  my  dear  husband,  who  is  thoroughly  familiar 
with  Sanscrit,  he  says  you  are  still  infatuated  with  idols 
and  psychologized  by  priests,  though  you  do  once  in  a 
while  give  your  readers  a  fraction,  somewhat  distorted 
though,  of  our  sublime  Oriental  doctrines." 

At  this  point  the  Anglo-Indian  proselyter  became 
eloquent  and  strident,  and  turning  to  Professor  Mon- 
teith  —  who  was  secretly  enjoying  this  strange  woman's 
presumptuous  uppishness  —  said  to  that  gentleman :  — 

"And  you,  sir,  though  you  do  well  to  criticise  the 
Christian  religion  as  you  do,  are  not  yet  acquainted 
with  Esoteric  Buddhism;  but  we  will  gladly  initiate 
you.  My  dear  husband  can  give  you  the  mystic  key  to 
the  Vedas  in  twelve  lessons,  and  it  will  only  cost  you 
rifty  dollars, — that  is,  ten  pounds  in  English  money; 
he  has  taught  sixty  classes  in  America,  composed  of  the 
leading  physicians,  lawyers,  merchants,  journalists,  and 
all  the  big  guns  in  the  largest  cities ;  after  you  have 
taken  his  course  of  instruction  you  will  be  indeed  a 


2b  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK. 

saved  man.  Professor  Bromleykite  is  a  name  honored 
wherever  truth  is  prized." 

When  the  impetuous  advocate  of  her  own  and  her 
husband's  peculiar  pet  form  of  "  esotericism  "  had  ceased 
this  volley  of  conjugal  eulogy,  Mr.  Gore,  who  had  been 
quietly  leaning  against  the  mantelpiece  reading  the 
voluble  speaker's  character  pretty  thoroughly,  sugges 
tively  remarked:  — 

"  Lady  Porchester,  with  whom  I  believe  you  are  well 
acquainted,  knows  a  genuine  mystic,  who  is  in  the 
privileged  possession  of  actual  knowledge  of  many  of 
the  hidden  sources  of  life ;  he  lives  in  almost  complete 
retirement,  devoting  his  whole  time  and  energy,  and 
that  incessantly,  to  the  demonstration  of  palpable  proof 
of  the  spiritual  constitution  of  the  universe.  If  you, 
my  dear  professor,  are  honestly  in  search  of  light,  I  will 
intercede  with  Lady  Porchester  to  procure  for  you  an 
introduction  to  this  extraordinary  young  man,  who, 
strange  to  say,  considering  his  accumulated  knowledge, 
is  scarcely  over  thirty  years  of  age ;  he,  I  am  convinced, 
can  show  you  the  practical  side  of  theosophy,  while, — 
pardon  the  suggestion, — from  what  we  know  of  reputed 
theosophists  in  general,  we  are  sure  they  can  but  vaguely 
theorize  at  best." 

The  conversation  soon  became  general,  and  as  Madame 
Discalcelis  had  an  appointment  with  her  publishers  at 
half-past  one,  she  soon  made  her  adieux,  and  accom 
panied  by  Mrs.  Gore  set  out  in  her  exquisitely  appointed 
brougham  in  the  direction  of  Oxford  Street. 

Subseqiient  to  their  departure  Mrs.  Bromleykite  soon 
realized  the  necessity  of  her  superintending  the  cooking 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOCK.          27 

and  serving  of  the  stewed  cabbage  and  fried  onions, 
which  would  constitute  the  early  dinner  of  these 
devoted  cheelas,  who  professed  to  regard  the  eating  of 
meat  as  a  terrible  sin,  if  partaken  of  at  their  own  table 
and  paid  for  with  their  own  money;  in  other  people's 
houses,  when  they  were  invited,  porter-house  steak, 
boned  turkey,  and  even  pdte  de  foie  gras  were  perfectly 
legitimate  articles  of  diet,  so  they  apparently  had  been 
informed  by  a  supreme  judicial  authority ;  "delayed 
karma  "  was  so  considerate  of  their  bodily  infirmities, 
that  though  it  was  really  very  wrong  to  kill  animals  or 
birds  for  food,  it  was  quite  right  to  satisfy  the  present 
needs  of  a  semi-carnivorous  appetite,  provided  always 
the  banquet  was  furnished  by  other  people  and  eaten 
out  of  one's  own  apartments.  This  theory  of  morality, 
as  applied  to  diet,  was  mercilessly  ridiculed  by  Madame 
Discalcelis;  but  then,  she  was  a  "scoffer,"  and  her 
opinions  did  not  merit  attention  in  "occult"  society. 

Professor  Monteith  had  accepted  Mr.  Gore's  cordial 
invitation  to  a  little  bachelor  lunch  in  that  young 
gentleman's  private  "den."  And  during  the  meal,  it 
was  with  more  than  ordinary  interest  that  he  expatiated 
upon  the  need  of  absolute  physical  proof  of  the  existence 
of  the  human  soul,  if  such  an  existence  could  ever  be 
accepted  as  a  reality;  and  though  the  two  gentlemen 
did  not  by  any  means  agree,  either  in  their  premises  or 
conclusions,  the  hour  they  spent  at  the  lunch  table  was 
a  profitable  one  for  both.  The  bright,  healthy,  hopeful, 
happy  young  man,  full  of  glorious  life  and  noble  aspira 
tions,  exerted,  even  though  unconsciously,  upon  his 
elder  companion,  an  electric  influence  of  such  an 
uplifting  character  that  the  poor  professor,  who  had 


28  DASHED   AGAINST   THE    ROCK. 

been  for  many  years  a  martyr  to  dyspepsia,  enjoyed  a 
hearty  meal  without  fear  of  indigestion,  and  felt  a 
hundred  per  cent  better  for  it  two  hours  after  he  had 
eaten  it. 

Arthur  Selwyn  Eastlake-Gore  was  a  gifted  young 
man,  of  a  type  far  too  rare  in  modern  society ;  for  were 
there  more  like  him,  interest  in  true  religion  would  not 
be  at  the  shockingly  low  ebb  it  now  is  among  college- 
bred  young  gentlemen.  Professor  Monteith,  cynic  and 
sceptic  though  he  had  long  been,  was  deeply  impressed 
and  strongly  influenced  by  the  evidently  perfect  sin 
cerity  of  his  genial  host.  Noble  characters  can  wear 
broadcloth  and  fine  linen,  and  appear  with  well-trimmed 
nails  and  well-brushed  hair,  with  much  greater  likeli 
hood  of  influencing  the  world  for  good,  than  though 
they  foolishly  arrayed  themselves  in  tattered  robes,  and 
made  a  virtue  of  dirty  hands  and  unkempt  locks. 

"I  shall  not  forget  the  introduction,"  said  Mr.  Gore 
pleasantly,  as  the  strangely  assorted  pair  bade  each  other 
a  temporary  adieu. 

"Thanks  a  million  times,"  responded  Professor  Mon 
teith;  "it  may  be  my  salvation." 

The  young  gentleman  retired  to  his  dressing-room  to 
prepare  for  Lady  Porchester's  "At  home,"  which  was 
always  on  Monday  afternoons,  while  the  elder  man, 
deeply  impressed,  but  not  yet  by  any  means  converted, 
gave  himself  to  speculation  concerning  what  might 
possibly  occur  as  the  result  of  his  anticipated  introduc 
tion  to  the  mysterious  "  Aldebaran,"  whose  workshop  at 
Tower  Heights,  Islington,  had  once  been  mentioned  to 
him  as  the  most  wonderful  laboratory  of  "  alchemy  "  to 
be  found  in  all  Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  III. 

LADY  PORCHESTER'S  RECEPTION. 

LADY  PORCHESTER'S  house  in  Grosvenor  Square  was 
one  of  those  commodious  old-style  mansions  tenanted, 
during  the  "season"  at  least,  by  that  portion  of  high 
society  in  London  which  prefers  the  traditions  of  the 
forefathers,  in  the  matter  of  dwelling,  to  the  new 
fangled  freaks  of  the  young  bloods  of  English  aris 
tocracy.  Comfort  was  unmistakably  suggested  by  the 
quiet,  roomy  massiveness  of  the  house,  whether  regarded 
from  within  or  without.  Ground-rents  were  evidently 
not  nearly  so  high  as  now  when  Grosvenor  Square  came 
into  existence;  for  in  all  the  residences  in  that  sub 
stantial  abode  of  solidity  there  is  ample  room  for 
families  to  spread  themselves  at  will  through  suites  of 
ample  apartments,  each  room  in  which  can  be  devoted 
to  the  special  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed. 

In  a  house  of  twenty  spacious  rooms,  exclusive  of 
servants'  quarters,  Lady  Porchester  lived  nearly  the 
whole  year  round,  with  her  faithful  and  beloved  protegee, 
Miss  Katherine  Poyntz,  attended  by  at  least  a  dozen 
well-trained  and,  for  the  most  part,  rather  ancient,  ser 
vants.  In  June,  however,  the  house  was  not  so  bare  of 

29 


30  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

occupants;  as,  within  certain  clearly  defined  limits, 
Lady  Catherine  Aurelia  Clavering  Porchester  was  given 
to  hospitality.  All  through  the  year  —  save  during  the 
short  intervals  when  her  ladyship  deserted  the  metropolis 
for  Brighton  and  sea  air,  which  was  usually  during 
October  and  November  —  her  handsome,  though  de 
cidedly  old-fashioned,  drawing-rooms  were  thronged  on 
Monday  afternoons  with  as  curious  an  assemblage  of 
human  beings  as  could  well  be  met  with  anywhere;  for, 
though  fastidious  to  a  degree  in  the  keeping  up  of 
many  family  traditions,  this  elderly  dame  of  an  ancient 
re'gime  was  so  completely  carried  away  with  ever> 
novelty  connected  with  the  amazing  progress  of  Spirit 
ualism  and  Occultism,  that  she  attracted  to  her  house, 
her  person,  and  her  fortune  almost  every  visitor  to 
London  who  laid  any  claim  at  all  to  being  a  clair 
voyant,  clairaudient,  telepathist,  occultist,  or  aught  else 
that  savored  of  the  mysterious  or  the  theosophic. 
Among  this  motley  throng  were  persons  of  the  greatest 
probity ;  but  these  were  well-balanced  by  schemers,  who 
found  the  excessive  credulousness  of  their  hostess  an 
open  sesame  to  the  furtherance  of  their  unrighteous 
plans  to  defraud  the  unsuspecting,  under  pretext  of  a 
heavenly  revelation. 

As  the  Bromleykites  had  heard  of  Lady  Porchester's 
hospitality  and  also  of  her  amazing  gullibility,  very 
shortly  after  their  arrival  in  London,  and  their  fame,  or 
to  speak  truly,  notoriety,  had  reached  that  good  woman's 
ears  through  the  medium  of  her  favorite  newspaper, 
The  Psychic  Eye- Opener,  edited  by  Jarvis  Montressor 
Palgrave,  P.Q.R.,  H.E.F.,  etc.,  etc.,  she  had  not  only 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  31 

sent  them  a  cordial  invitation  to  be  present  at  her 
weekly  "At  homes,"  but  had  even  despatched  a  special 
confidential  messenger,  in  the  person  of  the  ever- 
faithful  Katherine,  urging  them  not  only  to  attend  the 
"  functions  "  in  her  drawing-room,  but  to  dine,  lunch, 
sup,  or  anything  they  pleased  en  famille  with  her 
ladj'-ship,  whenever  their  numerous  and  pressing  engage 
ments  would  permit  of  their  straying  as  far  as  Grosvenor 
Square  from  the  delightful  suburb  where  they  were  so 
charmingly  domiciled. 

The  face  of  Miss  Poyntz  was  truly  luminous  with 
cordial  greeting  as  she  delivered  this  delicious  invita 
tion,  with  Lady  Porchester's  own  expressive  accentua 
tion.  Of  course  the  Bromleykites  responded,  and  on 
the  first  Monday  after  its  receipt  they  were  in  Lady 
Porchester's  drawing-room  among  the  earliest  of  the 
visitors.  They  arrived  before  three;  Mr.  Gore  dropped 
in  about  four;  and  as  the  guests  and  visitors  had  heard 
of  nothing  but  the  doings  of  Professor  Bromleykite 
while  in  India,  for  over  an  hour,  they  were  not  sorry 
when  Mr.  Gore's  entrance  changed  the  conversation,  but 
without  leading  it  away  from  its  pivotal  Occultism. 

"By  the  way,  my  dear  Lady  Porchester,"  said  the 
new  arrival,  "  my  mother  and  I  are  deeply  interested  in 
Professor  Regulus  Monteith,  who  seems,  despite  his 
scepticism,  to  be  really  in  earnest  in  his  desire  to  know 
something  of  the  discoveries  of  that  remarkable  scientific 
mystic  whom  we  only  hear  of  in  a  vague  way  through 
a  mutual  friend  as  Signor  Aldebaran;  if  he  is  open  to 
visitors,  I  think  he  would  be  glad  to  meet  -Professor 
Monteith,  and  I  may  also  say  on  behalf  of  my  mother's 


«J2  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

particular  friend,  Madame  Discalcelis,  that  she  also 
would  like  an  introduction." 

"My  dear  Eastlake,"  responded  the  hostess,  "nothing 
would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  put  you  in  the 
way  of  seeing  him;  but  I  understand  he  is  very  seclu- 
sive, — quite  a  hermit,  I  should  judge, — living  in  a 
tower,  where  he  has  a  complete  alchemist's  outfit ;  really 
a  romance  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  anno  domini  1893." 
Then  addressing  Miss  Poyntz,  "Katherine,  my  dear, 
write  at  once  to  Lady  Tomlinson  and  request  two 
letters  of  introduction  to  Professor  Aldebaran ;  one  for 
Madame  Visalia  Discalcelis,  the  noted  authoress,  the 
other  for  Professor  Regulus  Monteith,  professor  of  all 
the  natural  sciences:  that  sounds  inclusive,  and  I 
cannot  designate  his  specialty." 

With  Miss  Poyntz,  to  serve  Lady  Porchester  was  a 
delight ;  the  two  women  loved  each  other  truly,  and  the 
younger  served  the  elder  —  though  not  without  liberal 
compensation,  however  —  from  pure  devotion  and  grati 
tude.  Miss  Poyntz  could  do  everything;  she  could 
play  the  piano,  sing,  recite,  write  a  good  letter,  direct 
the  affairs  of  a  household,  collect  rents,  and  overlook 
wardrobes ;  she  was  indeed  a  treasure,  a  domestic  woman 
as  well  as  an  artist,  but  she  had  never  married;  possibly 
she  had  been  crossed  in  her  affections;  but  were  that 
the  case,  no  one  suspected  it,  and  she  and  Lady  Por 
chester  were  positively  inseparable. 

While  the  letters  were  being  written  at  an  escritoire, 
in  a  palm-shrouded  recess,  the  clatter  of  voices  became 
louder  and  more  incessant,  as  carriages  were  now  arriv 
ing  rapidly,  filled  with  the  tlite  of  Belgravia,  who  felt 


DASHED  AGAINSf   THE  fcOCR.  33 

it  to  be  a  duty  to  always  look  in  upon  dear  Lady 
Porchester  on  Monday  afternoons. 

As  Mr.  Eastlake-Gore  was  one  of  her  ladyship's 
favorites,  —  and,  oh,  how  she  wished  his  eyes  might  rest 
lovingly  on  her  companion,  though  twenty  years  his 
senior,  — she  cordially  invited  him  to  remain  to  dinner, 
which  she  declared  she  always  took  on  Mondays  alone 
with  dear  Katherine  in  their  cosey  boudoir,  and  then  — 
and  here  her  voice  sunk  to  a  whisper  —  the  Bromley- 
kites  were  going  to  join  them,  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite 
had  confidentially  informed  her  that  sometimes,  when 
conditions  were  exceptionally  favorable,  and  the  gas  was 
lowered  at  dessert,  and  the  footman  dismissed  from  the 
room,  bracelets,  brooches,  watches,  and  other  articles  of 
value  were  transported  to  India  to  be  blessed  by 
"T.H.E.M.,"  and  returned  to  their  respective  owners 
when  "T.H.E.Y.."  saw  fit. 

Though  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  laugh  while  her 
ladyship  was  speaking,  Mr.  Gore  was  simply  compelled 
to  cough  and  take  out  his  handkerchief;  nevertheless, 
he  graciously  accepted  the  invitation,  and  this  the  more 
readily  as  Lady  Porchester  had  telephoned  to  his  mother 
and  their  guest  that  if  they  could  drop  in  about  half- 
past  eight  they  might  possibly  witness  some  of  the  most 
wonderful  feats  of  occultism  ever  presented  to  the  world. 

Six  o'clock  came,  and  the  other  visitors  had  all 
departed.  Lady  Porchester  and  Miss  Poyntz  had  left 
the  drawing-room,  and  Mr.  Gore  was  left  alone  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite,  who  at  once  endeavored  to 
enlist  the  young  man's  sympathy  in  an  endeavor  to 
raise,  through  courses  of  lectures,  entertainments,  etc., 


34          DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROOK. 

a  fund  of  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  pounds,  to  build 
theosophical  headquarters  in  the  metropolis.  Assum 
ing  the  attitude  of  a  frenzied  prophet,  his  long,  thin, 
grizzly  hair  fluttering  below  his  collar  as  he  gesticulated, 
his  lean  long  arms  extended  like  the  wings  of  a  bat,  his 
shiny  threadbare  broadcloth  contrasting  soberly  with  his 
yellow,  frayed  linen,  Professor  Sanskritikus  Bromley- 
kite  looked  every  inch  a  wizard. 

Seated  in  a  commodious  arm-chair  near  by,  his  wife 
carefully  scanned  the  face  of  their  acquaintance  as  they 
eagerly  sought  to  enlist  this  promising  young  English 
man  as  one  of  "  T.H.E. I. R."  disciples.  Mrs.  Bromley- 
kite,  fully  as  shabby  and  ragged  as  her  spouse,  her 
dyed-black  hair  and  artificial  chignon  contrasting  pain 
fully  with  her  sallow  cheeks  and  sunken  eyes,  looked 
ghastly  in  the  subdued  lamplight  which  mingled  with 
the  light  of  day,  which  still  streamed  brightly  in  through 
the  partly  curtained  windows. 

The  professor  was  no  orator,  he  was  not  even  elo 
quent,  but  he  was  impassioned;  and  when  he  talked  of 
the  ashes  of  "B.P.H."  and  their  removal  to  India,  tears 
flowed  in  torrents  down  his  livid  cheeks  as  he  finished 
an  address  on  the  absolute  altruism  of  theosophy,  with 
a  harrowing  allusion  to  the  bitter  persecutions  meted 
out  by  a  lacerating  world  to  the  "reincarnate  John  the 
Baptist,"  whom  "Occidental  perfidy  had  stretched 
bleeding  on  its  infernal  rack  of  torture,  and  gloated  over 
the  iron  which  had  entered  the  marrow  of  his  veins." 

"  Not  moved  by  this  recital  of  the  greatest  suffering 
of  the  ages!  "  shrilly  screamed  the  professor's  wife,  as 
Eastlake-Gore  quietly  turned  over  the  pages  of  a  recent 


t>ASHE£>   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  35 

periodical,  when  th;  professor  had  ceased  speaking; 
"are  you  a  man  of  stone, —  though  I  should  not  take 
you  to  be  such, —  that  such  inexpressible  emotion  as 
my  darling  husband's  fails  to  move  you  ?  Why,  when 
he  lectured  last  April  in  New  York,  the  halls  —  the 
largest  and  finest  in  the  city  —  were  thronged  to  suffo 
cation  ;  women  rushed  out  in  hysterics,  men  fainted  and 
fell  over  the  gallery  railings ;  it  was  a  Pentecost  of  fire ; 
my  husband  literally  asphyxiated  them." 

"How  very  awful,"  was  Mr.  Gore's  sole  comment. 

"Awful,  AWFUL,  did  you  say?"  pursued  Sanskrita, 

who,  by  this  time,  had  risen  and  taken  the  attitude  of 

a  menacing  pythoness ;  "  I  called  it  glorious,  HEAVENLY, 

and"  —  here  her  voice  was  lowered  to  a  stage  whisper 

-"I  am  sure  '  T.H.E.Y.'  were  with  him." 

"I  know  not,  nor  do  I  care,  who  or  what  may  have 
been  the  direct  or  indirect  cause  of  so  execrable  a 
pathological  phenomenon ;  no  wise  or  benevolent  power 
throws  men  and  women  into  convulsive  paroxysms  of 
aggravated  hysteria ;  I  believe  yet  in  the  old-fashioned 
counsel,  'Judge  the  tree  by  its  fruits,'  and  the  fruits 
you  seem  to  have  on  exhibition  are  to  my  mind  dia 
bolical." 

"Diabolical  results,  when  my  husband  is  the  speaker! 
this  is  too  much;  dear  Lady  Porchester  cannot  know 
your  principles,  young  man,  or  she  would  ostracize  you 
from  her  circle."  But  fearing  her  endeavors  might  react 
against  her  own  and  her  husband's  future  interest,  she 
instantly  took  refuge  in  loud,  wailing  sobs,  and  between 
her  fast-flowing  tears  succeeded  in  feebly  articulating 
with  choked  utterance :  "  Oh,  Mr.  Gore,  you  don't  know 


36  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

us ;  we  are  angels,  and  you  think  us  devils ;  but  those 
whose  mission  is  so  very  exalted  must  expect  to  be  mis 
understood  ;  even  Buddha  was  maligned  by  ignorance, 
booh!  booh!  booh-h-h!"  and  the  poor  woman  broke 
down  utterly. 

Hating  a  scene,  as  all  healthy  people  do,  Mr.  Gore 
sought  to  quell  the  ire  and  sorrow  of  the  offended 
Bromleykites  by  politely  remarking,  "  Well,  doubtless 
you  are  well-meaning;  if  I  have  misinterpreted  your 
meaning,  I  gladly  offer  my  apologies." 

"  My  young  friend, "  responded  Mr.  Bromleykite,  now 
quite  recovered  from  his  emotion,  "you  are  like  thou 
sands,  nay,  millions  of  others ;  you  know  not '  T.  H.  E.  M. ' 
—  would  that  we  might  initiate  you." 

The  announcement  that  it  only  wanted  fifteen  min 
utes  to  seven,  at  which  hour  dinner  would  be  served, 
put  a  happy  termination  to  this  ludicrous  and-  rather 
embarrassing  interview,  as  the  claims  of  the  toilet 
demanded  the  attention  of  all  who  had  engaged  in  it; 
and  when  they  reappeared  from  the  dressing-rooms, 
dinner  was  served,  and  conversation  became  animated 
on  the  side  of  Lady  Porchester,  who  regarded  the 
Bromleykites  as  valuable  acquisitions  to  her  coterie  of 
intimates,  while  Mr.  Gore  and  Miss  Poyntz  discussed 
quite  amicably  a  new  picture  which  had  just  been 
exhibited  in  Bond  Street.  Miss  Poyntz  was  quite  an 
intellectual  woman,  and  were  it  not  for  her  uncom 
promising  submission  to  every  one  of  Lady  Porchester's 
fads,  she  would  doubtless  have  expressed  her  views  far 
more  decidedly  on  the  transportation  of  trinkets;  as  it 
was,  she  respectfully  acquiesced  in  her  ladyship's  decis- 


DASHEt)  AGAINST   THE  HOCK.  37 

ions,  and  permitted  her  own  faculty  for  scrutiny  to 
remain  in  customary  abeyance. 

Professor  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite,  though  strict  vege 
tarians  on  principle,  ate  very  heartily  of  turtle  soup, 
salmon  cutlets,  roast  duck,  and  kidney  sautS;  and 
though  pillars  of  total  abstinence,  they  freely  imbibed 
hock,  moselle,  and  burgundy,  with  evidently  the 
keenest  relish;  but  they  were  not  at  home,  and  out  of 
their  own  house  it  was  no  sin  to  indulge  at  other 
people's  expense  in  these  luxuries,  the  sin  of  flesh- 
eating  and  wine-drinking  consisting  only  in  buying 
wine  and  meat  with  one's  own  money,  or  in  preparing 
and  eating  it  in  the  private  apartments  of  "  consecrated 
cheelas."  Mrs.  Bromleykite  distinctly  declared  that 
"T.H.E.Y."  permitted  violations  of  the  strict  rule  of 
"Yoga"  when  "holy probationers  "  were  accepting  hos 
pitality  from  less  initiated  "thresholders." 

Just  as  the  walnuts  were  passing  round,  Mrs.  Eastlake- 
Gore,  Madame  Discalcelis,  Mrs.  Fitzcraven-Spottis- 
woode,  Mr.  Clarence  Fitzcraven,  and  Professor  Regulus 
Monteith  were  announced  as  already  in  the  drawing- 
room.  This  was  the  signal  to  commence  the  serious 
business  of  the  evening,  for  at  Lady  Porchester's  urgent 
request  dear  Professor  Bromleykite  and  his  darling  wife 
had  graciously  consented  to  try  a  few  experiments  in 
hypnotism ;  and  if  these  proved  successful,  then  it  might 
be  possible  that  a  few  articles  of  jewelry  would  disappear 
by  magic  from  the  persons  of  the  sitters. 

Mrs.  Spottiswoode  and  her  brother,  Mr.  Fitzcraven, 
were  quite  distinguished  literary  personages;  Mrs. 
Spottiswoode 's  articles  on  the  Passion  Play  of  Ober- 


38          DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

Ammergau  were  the  talk  of  literary  circles ;  Mr.  Fitz- 
craven  was  literary  and  dramatic  critic  for  the  Belgravia 
Eagle  ;  and  as  Mr.  Gore  was  a  reviewer  for  the  Kensing 
ton  Lion,  the  two  gentlemen  had  often  met  in  the  course 
of  the  discharge  of  their  respective  obligations.  Mrs. 
Spottiswoode  impressed  every  one  who  met  her  as  a 
woman  of  will;  her  tall,  majestic  figure,  stately,  com 
manding  voice,  and  handsome  dress  all  conspired  to 
give  an  air  of  queenliness  to  her  ample  person,  and  her 
brother  was  scarcely  less  conspicuous  with  his  fine 
military  bearing  and  faultless  evening  attire.  Professor 
Monteith  looked  inquisitorial  and  only  partly  at  his 
ease;  Madame  Discalcelis  and  Mrs.  Gore  presented  a 
beautiful  tableau;  they  might  easily  have  been  taken 
for  mother  and  daughter,  they  appeared  so  much  alike 
in  quiet  dignity  and  unobtrusive  strength  of  soul.  Mrs. 
Gore's  quiet  pale  gray  silk  contrasted  peacefully  with 
the  snowy  muslin  of  the  younger  lady's  robe  and  the 
amber  and  black  costume  of  Mrs.  Spottiswoode.  Mr. 
Gore  and  Mr.  Fitzcraven  were  about  of  a  height  and 
not  dissimilar  in  build,  but  the  perfectly  easy,  unaffected 
grace  of  the  one  differed  widely  from  the  decidedly  "  got 
up  "  appearance  of  the  other.  Lady  Porchester  looked 
fiery,  in  spite  of  her  serene  amiability  of  disposition, 
in  the  scarlet  satin  she  insisted  upon  wearing  on  a 
warm  summer  evening,  though  "sweet  Katherine  "  sug 
gested  pale  blue  in  preference,  and  received  in  conse 
quence  the  gift  of  a  beautiful  dress  of  that  color  for  her 
own  use  from  her  ladyship. 

Professor  Bromleykite  suggested  "  exercises "  to 
"thrill  the  circle  into  sympathy  with  the  occult 
vibrations  of  Devachanic  rest." 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  39 

Madame  Discalcelis,  who  was  an  exquisite  pianist, 
readily  complied  with  an  invitation  —  she  was  utterly 
unaffected  —  to  render  one  of  Schubert's  Nocturnes  and 
then  two  Beethoven  Sonatas,  which  she  rendered  with 
such  perfect  shading  that  a  holy  hush  really  did  seem 
to  fall  upon  all  the  listeners.  A  perfect  accompanist  is 
always  a  much-to-be-desired  acquisition  at  a  reception 
where  music  is  introduced,  and  in  this  r61e  the  fair 
Visalia  was  peerless ;  Miss  Poyntz  was  consequently  so 
greatly  aided  when  she  gave  "  The  Song  that  reached 
my  Heart,"  and  "One  Morning,  oh,  so  Early,"  —  Lady 
Porchester's  particular  favorites,  —  that  Mr.  Fitzcraven, 
even  though  a  professional  critic,  condescended  to 
exclaim,  positively  la  diva, —  a  compliment  which 
Katherine  was  not  slow  to  accept  at  far  more  than 
even  its  face  value. 

When  the  company  was  sufficiently  harmonized  and 
tranquillized,  Professor  Bromleykite,  introduced  by  her 
ladyship,  delivered  a  grandiose  address  on  the  marvels 
of  hypnotism,  in  which  he  freely  quoted  from  Bernheim, 
Charcot,  and  other  authorities,  and  paid  his  half- 
complimentary  respects  to  Mr.  Stead's  "  automatic  writ 
ing."  Experiments  were  of  course  suggested,  and  as 
no  one  but  Lady  Porchester  appeared  a  willing  subject, 
and  she  was  anxious  to  be  thrown  into  the  "sub 
conscious  ecstasy"  wherein  her  "sub-self"  might  satis 
factorily  convince  its  auditors  that  human  beings  really 
have  two  minds, —  the  inner  of  which  is  far  more 
luminous  than  the  outer,  —  lights  were  lowered  till 
only  the  outline  of  figures  could  be  discovered  easily ; 
then  in  a  loud  sepulchral  whisper  Professor  Bromleykite 


40  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

recited  an  'incantation.  Madame  Discalcelis  and  the 
Gores  shuddered  at  its  blasphemy;  Professor  Monteith 
regarded  it  as  an  interesting  revival  of  an  ancient 
superstition,  and  watched  its  possible  "magnetic  "  effect 
with  the  critical  eyes  of  a  nineteenth  century  scientist, 
to  whom  the  convolutions  of  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain 
and  the  emanations  radiating  therefrom  constitute  a 
fascinating  topic  for  rigid  scrutiny;  Mrs.  Spottiswoode 
and  her  brother  were  amused  rather  than  interested; 
Miss  Poyntz  was  careful  to  watch  Lady  Porchester's 
respiration,  fearing  that  there  might  be  danger  to  an 
elderly  lady  whose  heart  was  none  too  vigorous,  in  such 
a  pastime ;  Mrs.  Bromleykite  assumed  the  attitude  of  a 
motionless  sphinx  gazing  into  a  crystal  which  one  of 
"T.H.E.M."  had  blessed  for  her  especial  use. 

"  Guru-Mahatma,  permit  this  candidate,  tyro  though 
she  be,  to  gaze  into  the  impenetrable  and  reveal  the 
secret  of  the  unconditioned,"  spake  the  now  rising 
voice  of  the  acrobatic  hypnotist,  who,  breathing  seven 
times  upon  her  ladyship's  white  lace  neckerchief,  at 
length  snapped  his  ringers,  shook  his  head,  and  mut 
tered  :  — 

"  O  the  rook  in  the  eagle's  nest, 

O  the  dog  in  the  river, 
O  the  shadow  of  monkeys l  blest, 
O  the  mystical  shiver." 

Her  ladyship  apparently  could  not  resist  the  charm 
of  so  sublime  a  stanza  from  the  "holy  Mantras,"  and 
lifting  her  eyes  slowly  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling  she 

1  Monkeys  are  the  sacred  animals  in  the  temples  at  Benares. 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  41 

uttered  in  an  oracular  tone,  entirely  unlike  her  own 
accents  and  without  a  shadow  of  resemblance  to  her 
natural  style :  — 

"  The  temple  shall  be  built ;  I  hereby  pledge  myself 
to  donate  to  its  erection  one  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
payable  on  demand  of  Professor  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite, 
and  I  hereby  inform  you  all,  that  whosoever  shall  say  a 
word  against  this  sacred  project  shall  be  condemned 
of  —  " 

Here  her  voice  failed,  and  she  sank  into  a  restful 
slumber,  in  which  she  remained  for  about  five  minutes, 
the  professor  and  his  wife  meanwhile  retaining  an 
attitude  of.  apparently  sublime  forgetfulness  of  all 
terrestrial  affairs,  when  suddenly  Lady  Porchester's 
voice  and  manner  changed,  and  she  spoke  swiftly  and 
loudly  these  impressive  words :  — 

"Now  shall  it  be  done,  now  shall  the  unbelieving 
witness  the  power  of  Indra,  now  shall  the  gurus  of  the 
plains  teach  the  dwellers  in  Babylon  of  their  secrets; 
even  now  do  I  declare  to  you  this  house  shall  be  the 
place,  and  this  hour  the  time,  when  matter  shall  yield 
to  spirit,  and  muscle  be  made  to  obey  the  force  of  will." 

Relapsing  into  silence,  a  serene  smile  playing  upon 
her  kindly  features,  Lady  Porchester  leaned  back  in 
her  chair  as  though  nothing  had  happened,  and  thus  she 
remained,  breathing  regularly,  for  fully  ten  minutes, 
Miss  Poyntz  holding  her  hand. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it?"  said  the  guests, 
one  to  another. 

"Hypnotic  influence,  without  a  doubt,"  declared  Mrs. 
Spottiswoode ;  "  but  as  to  the  source  of  the  intelligence 


42  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

conveyed  through  the  subject's  lips,  it  is  unquestionably 
the  Bromleykites.  Such  manifestations  are  not  at  all 
uncommon;  my  brother  and  I  have  witnessed  them  in 
our  own  house  repeatedly.  They  are  not  imposture  in 
one  respect,  for  they  clearly  prove  the  influence  exerted 
by  one  mind  upon  another.  The  Bromleykites  are 
clearly  hypnotists,  but  how  any  one  with  the  smallest 
share  of  reason  ca;i  believe  that  any  power  superior  to 
the  'operator's'  has  anything  to  do  with  the  result,  I  for 
one  cannot  imagine.  My  brother,  who  loves  a  joke 
dearly,  his  in  more  instances  than  one  sent  a  ludicrous 
mental  telegram  across  the  Atlantic;  and  as  he  and 
Mrs.  Wolf  Katzenheimer — an  eminent  lecturer  in  the 
United  States  — are  on  terms  of  almost  intimate  friend 
ship,  he  was  able  on  one  occasion  to  cause  her  to 
exclaim,  'You  spiteful  old  cat!  '  to  a  very  sober-faced 
old  gentleman  whom  she  was  seeking  to  instruct  in 
mental  therapeutics,  which  is  her  specialty." 

"I  do  not  doubt  it,"  added  Madame  Discalcelis; 
"such  phenomena  are  easily  accounted  for,  and  when 
nothing  but  amusement,  even,  is  the  object  sought,  I 
see  no  special  harm  in  hypnotism,  though  there  is  noth 
ing  whatever  spiritually  elevating  about  it;  but  I  do 
not  think  it  honest  to  seek  to  extort  pledges  of  financial 
support  for  wild-goose  projects  by  any  such  uncanny 
methods ;  and  as  to  the  incantation  which  preceded  the 
farce  this  evening,  it  was  an  outrage." 

Visalia  cared  nothing  for  the  opinions  of  the  Brom 
leykites,  and  she  let  them  know  it,  though  her  tones 
were  soft  as  ever  and  her  manner  perfectly  ladylike. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bromley  kite,  on  this  occasion  however, 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  43 

did  not  pretend  to  hear  anything  they  would  have 
wished  unsaid;  they  had  read  and  thoroughly  digested 
Flammarion's  Urania,  and  the  part  of  that  singular 
astronomical  romance  which  they  took  most  to  heart, 
was  the  suggestion  that  on  Mars  there  are  inhabitants 
provided  with  ear-lappets,  somewhat  resembling  eyelids, 
which  enable  them  to  open  and  close  their  ears,  literally 
as  well  as  figuratively,  at  pleasure.  To  hear  and  not 
to  appear  as  though  one  heard  is  quite  an  accomplish 
ment,  but  it  is  surely  a  far  higher  one  to  be  able  to  so 
control  one's  sense  of  hearing  that  the  very  act  itself 
becomes  entirely  voluntary.  This  was  the  feat  which 
the  Bromleykites  most  prided  themselves  in  being  able 
partially  to  accomplish. 

The  seance  which  followed  the  hypnotic  exhibit  was 
an  almost  dark  one,  though  two  shaded  lamps  shed  a 
very  subdued  radiance  across  the  room.  Professor 
Monteith,  who  had  long  been  a  believer  in  animal 
magnetism,  was  not  at  all  averse  to  table-tipping  and 
such  demonstrations  of  professedly  occult  power ;  he  was 
consequently  quite  ready  to  accept  a  seat  at  Lady 
Porchester's  right,  while  Miss  Poyntz  took  her  invari 
able  seat  at  her  benefactor's  left,  to  prevent  the  dire 
possibility  of  untoward  vibrations  from  strangers  injuri 
ously  affecting  her  ladyship's  heart.  Mrs.  Bromleykite 
insisted  upon  sitting  between  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  and 
Mr.  Fitzcraven,  as  she  distrusted  them  and  wished  to 
have  hold  of  one  hand  of  e;ich  of  these  possible  opponents 
of  occultism  while  the  manifestations  were  proceeding. 
Mrs.  Gore  was  placed  between  her  son,  who  was 
appointed  to  sit  beside  Miss  Poyntz  and  Madame 


44  DASHED   AGAINST    THE   ROCK. 

Discalcelis,  who,  by  the  way,  highly  disapproved  of  the 
sitting,  but  still  consented  to  be  a  witness  or  auditor  of 
what  transpired.  Mr.  Bromleykite  was,  most  incon 
veniently  for  himself,  seated  between  that  calm,  pre 
possessing  lady  and  Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  between  whom 
and  himself  he  detected  no  shadow  of  affinity,  though 
he  was  very  polite  to  them. 

Some  one  suggested  singing  a  sacred  song;  but  this 
was  quickly  vetoed  by  Mrs.  Gore  saying  pointedly  to 
her  son :  "  Arthur,  I  am  sure  all  our  friends  would  like 
to  hear  that  new  ballad  you  have  just  received  from 
America,  'A  Sailor's  Knot.' ' 

Arthur,  knowing  his  mother's  detestation  of  a  travesty 
on  holy  things,  at  once  responded,  and  in  an  exquisite 
tenor  sang  this  charming  nautical  song  by  Homer 
Tourje'e  of  the  Chicago  Musical  Conservatory,  in  a  truly 
enchanting  manner. 

The  last  refrain  had  scarcely  ceased;  "their  hearts 
were  tied  in  a  sailor's  knot "  still  reverberated  on  the 
air,  when  Lady  Porchester  enthusiastically  exclaimed: 
"  Oh,  the  dear  spirits ;  they  are  carrying  off  my  brace 
lets!" 

"Illustrious  lady,"  breathed  a  deep,  guttural  voice  at 
her  elbow,  "  not  spirits,  but  gurus  ;  your  spirit  friends 
are  resting  in  peace  ineffable  in  the  perfect  illusion  of 
Devachan,  and  no  discarded  shell  can  babble  forth  in  this 
pure  atmosphere  its  siren  tones  of  deep  seduction  to 
mislead  the  hungerers  for  living  bread.  But  hush!  the 
6ruru  Padmonodonovarkootmohino  is  removing  now  the 
diamond  pendants  from  your  e.u-s,  and  when  these  gems 
return  to  you  after  their  baptism  in  astral  tears,  shed 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  45 

by  the  all-immolated  victims  of  the  most  unutterable 
Grief,  they  will  convey  to  you,  even  from  the  skirts, 
of  'T.H.E.M.'  an  influence  redolent  of  Para-Quisla- 
mascha." 

Lights  were  now  permitted;  conditions  were  not 
favorable  for  any  experiments  with  other  members  of 
the  circle.  Lad}'  Porchester  was  sleeping  sweetly  in 
her  chair,  with  her  wrists  devoid  of  bracelets  and  her 
ears  destitute  of  jewels. 

Presently  she  awoke,  whispering,  "  Oh,  how  divine 
are  'T.H.E.Y. ''  She  was  evidently  happy,  no  harm 
had  befallen  her;  she  was  more  than  satisfied  with  the 
result  of  the  sSance,  and  none  of  her  guests  had  anything 
to  comment  upon  on  their  account. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it?"  questioned  Pro 
fessor  Monteith  of  her  ladyship's  companion. 

"I  cannot  answer  you,"  responded  Katherine:  "I  am 
quite  a  novice  in  the  new  doctrines  of  Occultism, 
though  my  experience  with  old-fashioned  Spiritualism 
has  been  quite  extensive." 

"  What  do  you  think,  my  dear  madam  ?  "  the  professor 
continued,  this  time  addressing  Madame  Discalcelis, 
and  they  were  now  in  a  remote  part  of  the  spacious 
drawing-room,  far  from  the  corner  where  the  Bromley- 
kites  and  Lady  Porchester  were  constituting  a  mutual 
admiration  tableau. 

"  Ventriloquism  and  conjuring,  and  not  a  very  fine 
display  of  either,"  was  Visalia's  immediate  reply. 

"What,  you  say  that  who  believe  in  the  spiritual?" 

"I  emphatically  say  that,  and  as  emphatically  do  I 
declare  my  knowledge  of  the  spiritual,"  was  the  final 
answer  of  the  lady  addressed. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  MYSTIC   AT   HOME. 

IN  a  charming  suburban  residence  about  ten  miles 
from  Liverpool  Street  station,  on  a  lovely  June  day, 
when  the  fashionable  London  season  of  '93  was  rapidly 
nearing  its  close,  Madame  Discalcelis  found  herself  in 
the  presence  of  a  modest  gentleman  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  plainly  attired  in  the  customa^  house-dress  of 
men  who  attach  more  value  to  comfort  than  to  display. 
Speaking  with  clear,  measured  accents  on  the  subject 
which  possessed  his  brain  and  evidently  lay  nearest  to 
his  heart,  his  fine  lustrous  eyes  glowing  with  suppressed 
fervor,  he  uttered  the  following  noteworthy  statements 
concerning  the  ultimate  constitution  of  matter  and  the 
action  of  the  force  regulating  its  phenomena, —  statements 
which  surely  challenge  the  closest  attention  of  the  whole 
scientific  world. 

"  First.     Matter  is  capable  of  infinite  subdivision. 

"Second.  In  the  aggregation  of  matter,  force  or 
energy  is  stored  up  or  conserved. 

"  Third.  In  the  dissociation  of  matter,  force  is  liber 
ated. 

"Fourth.  All  matter  is  in  a  state  of  perpetual 

46 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  47 

activity,  whether  the  substance  under  consideration  be 
inanimate  or  animated,  visible  or  invisible. 

"Fifth.  There  is  no  dividing  of  matter  and  force 
into  two  distinct  terms,  as  they  both  are  ONE.  FORCE 
is  liberated  matter.  Matter  is  force  in  bondage. 

"Sixth.  All  motion  is  synchronous;  no  sound  or 
movement  can  be  made  but  all  that  moves  or  sounds 
does  so  in  harmony  with  something. 

"Seventh.  All  structures,  whether  crystalline  or 
homogeneous,  have  for  their  unit  structures  minute 
bodies  called  molecules.  It  is  the  motion  of  these  mole 
cules  with  which  we  have  particularly  to  deal;  as  in 
experimental  research  and  demonstration,  when  we 
produce  an  action  upon  one  molecule  we  do  so  upon 
all  the  molecules  constituting  the  mass  operated  upon. 

"  Eighth.  These  molecules  have  an  envelope,  rotat 
ing  with  inconceivable  rapidity,  formed  of  a  high  tenu 
ous  ether,  whose  place  in  the  order  of  subdivision 
ranks  third,  the  three  divisions  being,  —  first,  molec 
ular;  second,  atomic;  third,  atomolicr  (For convenience' 
sake  we  will  use  the  term  atomolic  in  place  of  etheric 
in  our  subsequent  definitions.) 

"Ninth.  This  atomolic  substance  has  a  density 
approximately  986,000  times  that  of  steel,  enabling  it 
to  permeate  steel  as  light  penetrates  glass ;  this  rotating 
envelope  of  atomolic  substance  is  in  a  liquid  condition. 
There  are  four  conditions  of  matter;  viz.  solid,  liquid, 
gaseous,  and  ultra-gaseous.  These  conditions  result 
from  greater  or  lesser  range  of  oscillation  of  the  com 
posing  units  individually:  this  is  equal!}-  true,  whether 
the  units  are  molecules,  atoms,  atomoles,  planets,  or 
suns.  But  one  LAW  governs  all  matter. 


48  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

"Tenth.  This  molecular  envelope,  rotating  with 
such  great  velocity,  holds  in  its  embrace  the  next 
subdivision  of  matter,  the  atomic.  There  cannot  ever 
be  more  or  less  than  three  atoms  in  any  molecule. 
These  are  placed  so  as  to  form  a  triangle  in  the  interior; 
they  rest  in  a  condition  of  substance,  or  matter,  we  will 
term  inter-molecular.  In  this  inter-molecular  substance 
we  find  an  enormous  energy  or  force  in  bondage,  held 
thus  by  the  rotating  envelope  enclosing  it.  Were  we 
to  rotate  a  spun  brass  shell,  sa}'  nine  inches  in  diameter, 
at  a  very  much  less  rate  of  speed  than  that  at  which  the 
molecular  envelope  rotates, — say  nine  hundred  revolu 
tions  per  second,— its  equator  would  first  bulge  out, 
then  form  into  an  oval  disc.  A  solid  block  of  wood 
subject  to  such  revolution  would  swiftly  fly  to  pieces. 
The  rotating  envelope  of  a  molecule,  unlike  these,  the 
greater  its  velocity  of  rotation,  the  greater  is  its  com 
pression  toward  the  centre  of  the  molecule.  The  rota 
tion  of  this  envelope  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  produce 
an  internal  pressure  upon  every  portion  from  every 
point  of  the  molecule  as  a  sphere.  Were  we  to  consider 
a  rotating  envelope  as  ordinarily  understood,  it  would 
be  one  in  which  the  envelope  rotated  around  an  equator 
having  poles  of  no  rotation;  i.e.  the  poles  would  not 
possess  the  compressing  force  of  the  equator:  the  result 
would  therefore  be  a  compressed  equator,  and  the  inter- 
molecular  substance  would  pass  out  without  resistance 
at  the  poles. 

"  Eleventh.  If  it  be  possible  let  us  conceive  of  an 
envelope  with  an  equator,  but  destitute  of  poles,  a 
number  of  these  rotating  over  the  sphere,  this  atomolic 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  49 

envelope  possessing  an  almost  infinite  attractive  force 
toward  the  centre  of  the  molecule,  pressing  in  the 
inter-molecular  substance,  where  it  is  held  until  this 
revolving  envelope  becomes  negatized  by  a  certain  order 
of  vibration,  when  the  enclosed  matter  rushes  out  to  its 
natural  condition  of  concordant  tenuity,  as  in  the  case 
of  gunpowder,  dynamite,  and  nitro-glycerine.  This 
force,  we  must  see,  has  been  held  in  the  embrace  of  the 
rotating  envelopes  of  the  unit-structures,  or  where  does 
it  come  from?  This  force  at  the  time  of  an  explosion 
was  liberated  by  shock  or  fire,  both  being  orders  of 
imparted  motion  or  vibration.  How  much  greater  the 
result  would  be  were  we  to  associate  a  scientific  instru 
ment  now  completed,  and  shortly  to  be  given  to  the 
world,  with  such  an  agent  as  nitro-glycerine ;  one  pound 
of  nitro-glycerine  would  have  its  destructive  force  aug 
mented  beyond  all  possible  control.  These  instruments 
are  carefully  concealed  by  wise  masters  from  all  persons 
save  the  few  who  are  already  prepared  to  study  their 
potency  with  the  exclusive  end  in  view  of  aiding  the 
real  scientific  progress  of  humanit}" ;  and,  furthermore, 
it  may  be  truly  stated  that  a  ferocious  sensualist,  how 
ever  powerful  his  intellect,  would  be  utterly  unable  to 
either  comprehend  or  operate  one  of  these  marvellous 
constructions. 

"Twelfth.  Next  in  order  of  consideration  is  the 
second  subdivision  of  matter  —  the  atomic.  The  atom 
has  the  same  rotating  envelope  as  the  molecule,  gov 
erned  by  the  same  laws  of  rotation  and  compression. 
The  rotating  envelope  holds  in  its  embrace  the  inter 
atomic  substance  and  three  atomoles  resting  in  it,  the 


50  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

atomoles  within  the  atom  being  constructed  after  the 
same  pattern  as  the  atom  and  the  molecule,  obedient  to 
the  same  laws;  the  atomolic  being  simply  the  third 
subdivision  of  matter.  The  threefold  order  is  absolutely 
universal. 

"Thirteenth.  The  atomolic  substance  is  what  is 
termed  the  ether  which  fills  all  space  and  is  the 
transmitting  medium  for  all  celestial  and  terrestrial 
forces.  This  is  the  liquid  ether  of  occult  science. 

"  Fourteenth.  The  atomoles  are  made  up  of  atomolini 
(singular  atomolinus);  the  subdivision  of  matter  from 
this  point  is  beyond  man's  power,  as  at  this  point  it 
escapes  all  control  of  apparatus,  passing  through  glass 
and  hardened  steel  as  a  luminous  flame  without  heat, 
which  is  hardly  seen  before  it  vanishes,  —  a  perpetual 
flame  coldly  luminous. 

"Sixteenth.  This  again,  from  previous  analysis,  is 
made  up  according  to  the  triple  order,  and  may  again 
be  subject  to  subdivision,  even  to  infinity." 

"In  my  next  interview  with  you,"  said  Aldebaran  to 
his  visitor,  "I  shall  endeavor  to  show  you  the  law 
governing  the  triple  aggregation  of  force  and  matter, 
which  is,  in  brief,  as  follows:  first,  CREATIVE  SOURCE; 
second,  TRANSMISSIVE  WAVE;  third,  EFFECT." 

The  mystical  scientist  then  took  a  courteous  leave  of 
his  visitor,  and  after  seeing  her  to  her  carriage,  hurried 
to  the  suburban  station  connecting  with  the  under 
ground  railway  to  Aldsgate,  where  he  had  important 
business  with  a  distinguished  mechanical  engineer. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FURTHER   REVELATIONS. 

ON  the  occasion  of  the  next  meeting  between  the 
lady  and  the  scientist  the  latter  gave  utterance  to  the 
following  remarkable  truth. 

Each  molecule  has  three  envelopes.  The  most  exter 
nal  one  the  professor  illustrated  by  an  india-rubber  ball 
on  which  he  had  traced  a  number  of  meridian  lines. 
On  another  ball  were  represented  the  three  envelopes. 
The  outer  hemisphere  of  one  of  the  envelopes  is  removed 
to  show  the  under  envelope,  the  outer  hemisphere  of 
which  is  removed  in  still  another  part  of  the  diagram  to 
show  the  inmost  envelope.  A  third  diagram  was  then 
produced  to  show  the  position  of  the  atoms  which  the 
rotating  envelopes  enclose.  A  fourth  diagram  showed 
the  lines  of  interference  of  the  rotating  envelopes. 
There  being  three  perfect  envelopes,  these  of  necessity 
must  have  six  poles,  to  which  add  the  neutral  centre  of 
the  sphere  itself,  comprising  the  origin  of  the  septenary 
of  mysticism  which  is  universal  in  nature.  The  lifth 
diagram  exhibited  showed  the  subdivision  of  matter 
into  atomic,  atoinolic,  and  atomolinic.  A  black  disc 
representing  a  sphere  shows  the  negative  atom;  two 

51 


52  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

white  discs  also  representing  spheres  illustrate  the  two 
positive  atoms  in  the  triad,  completing  the  tertiary 
aggregation  forming  the  molecule.  Each  atom  is  in 
turn  composed  of  three  atomoles ;  in  the  negative  atom 
are  three  positive  atomoles,  positive  in  the  sense  of 
activity;  in  the  positive  atom  are  also  three  atomoles, 
two  of  which  are  negative,  i.e.  passive,  and  one  posi 
tive.  The  negative  is  always  that  which  seeks  the 
neutral  centre ;  the  positive  represents  the  active  radiat 
ing  energy:  for  instance,  the  sun  is  a  medium  for 
transmitting  radiant  energy  of  positive  order,  which 
all  the  planets  receive  negatively,  i.e.  it  focalizes  upon 
their  neutral  centres.  This  order  extends  to  infinity. 
The  final  diagram  presented  was  simply  intended  to 
further  elucidate  the  action  of  the  rotating  envelopes, 
illustrating  the  compressing  force  of  the  rotating 
spheral  and  the  protection  of  the  neutral  poles.  In  the 
rotating  envelopes  force  acts  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  its  action  in  the  revolution  of  the  earth,  where  the 
centrifugal  action  is  greatest  at  the  equator;  and  the 
greater  the  speed  of  rotation,  the  greater  the  centre- 
fleeing  force. 

In  the  case  of  the  etheric  envelope,  however,  the 
greater  the  speed  of  rotation,  the  more  powerful  is  the 
centripetal  (centre -seeking)  force  which  compresses 
the  atoms  within ;  the  pressure,  therefore,  is  greatest  at 
the  equator  and  gradually  lessens  toward  the  poles.  If 
there  were  only  one  envelope,  the  tendency  would  be  for 
the  atoms  to  be  oblate,  to  fly  out  at  the  poles,  where  the 
pressure  is  least.  A  beautiful  provision  of  nature  obviates 
this,  by  providing  three  envelopes,  rotating  one  within 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  53 

the  other,  like  three  shells ;  the  line  of  greatest  internal 
pressure  in  each  one  of  which  being  protected  by  the 
equatorial  lines,  the  line  of  greatest  pressure  covering 
the  line  of  least  pressure  on  the  others.  Each  of  the 
three  atoms  is  placed  directly  under  one  pole  of  each  of 
the  three  envelopes. 

If  the  rotating  envelope  of  the  molecule  were  in  any 
way  checked  in  its  motion,  the  enclosed  matter  would 
immediately  burst  forth,  producing  the  phenomenon  of 
integration,  releasing  from  its  previously  pent-up  con 
dition  a  volume  of  matter  many  times  as  great  as  that 
before  disintegration  took  place.  Sound-force  moving 
at  certain  rates  of  vibration  negatizes  the  action  of  the 
rotating  envelopes,  producing  conditions  which  result 
in  their  breaking  up,  followed  by  the  separation  of  the 
atoms  contained  in  those  envelopes,  and  also  of  inter- 
molecular  substance  occupying  space  not  taken  up  by 
the  atoms.  By  successive  orders  of  vibration  the  atoms, 
atomoles,  and  atomolini  are  disintegrated,  and  so  on  to 
the  luminous  order,  where  all  control  ceases. 

The  human  brain  being  formed  of  an  inestimable 
number  of  spherical  resonators,  termed  in  medical  sci 
ence  nerve  cells,  forming  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain, 
these  minute  spheres  take  up  the  thought  force  which 
permeates  all  space  in  endless  waves,  eternally  active. 
This  force  we  term  atomolic ;  the  cells  are  composed 
of  atomoles,  whose  vibratory  motions  under  the  action 
of  universal  thought  force  result  in  the  phenomena  of 
thought,  cognition,  intellection,  etc.  Understanding 
this,  no  one  should  continue  to  feel  surprise  at  the 
varying  emotions  and  impulses  of  a  human  being  in 


54  DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

an  undeveloped  state,  as  only  by  developed  WILL  can 
the  motions  of  this  force  be  directed. 

The  entire  human  economy,  in  the  action  of  all  its 
functions,  assimilations,  and  motions,  is  the  result  of 
differentiation  of  this  unitary  force,  all  tending  to 
supply  the  instrument  connecting  the  organism  with 
this  force  (the  brain)  with  certain  gases  whereby  it 
sustains  its  ceaseless  action  from  birth  to  death :  these 
gases  supply  the  rotating  envelopes  with  necessary  sub 
stance  for  their  continued  activity.  Were  this  supply 
cut  off,  death  would  immediately  ensue;  it  is  a  fact 
well  demonstrated  that  the  resonating  brain-structure 
is  the  first  to  undergo  decomposition. 

In  all  embodied  conditions  of  the  manifested  uni 
verse,  the  law  of  harmony  reigns  supreme ;  the  cause  of 
this  manifestation  is  the  result  of  the  positive  being 
stronger  than  the  negative ;  the  positive  is  everywhere 
the  dominant  order  of  the  universe;  this  reality  is 
perfectly  embodied  in  the  words  I  AM;  it  is  the  reason 
why  annihilation  is  both  inconceivable  and  impossible 
in  the  universe.  The  truth  of  this  statement  can  be 
experimentally  demonstrated;  its  law  is  found  in  all 
threefold  aggregations,  and  there  is  a  universal  trinity 
composed  of  two  positives  and  one  negative.  Eternal 
consciousness,  immortal  life,  and  an  infinite  order  of 
beings  is  the  result,  whilst  every  provision  is  made  in 
the  order  of  creation  for  the  happiness  and  enjoyment  of 
all  manifested  beings.  Conditions  are  also  provided 
whereby  satiety  falls  to  the  lot  of  none. 

The  eternally  conscious  entity  —  call  it  by  whatever 
name  we  please  —  moves  in  cycles  as  eternal  and  infinite 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  55 

a>  itself;  it  oscillates  and  vibrates  perpetually  and  is 
never  unconscious  of  any  present  condition,  be  it  pain 
or  pleasure,  joy  or  sorrow,  shame  or  glory;  like  the 
pendulum  of  a  clock  or  the  sun,  moon,  or  tides,  it 
swings  from  the  one  to  the  other  of  these  conditions, 
now  in  pleasure,  now  in  pain,  by  its  contact  with  the 
extremes  of  all  varying  conditions,  like  a  child  which 
throws  up  its  head  and  laughing  for  joy  exclaims,  I 
know  I  am. 

The  professor,  who  was  a  most  industrious  toiler  in 
nature's  deep  arcanum,  smilingly  exclaimed  as  he  fin 
ished  his  discourse :  "  This  is  no  theory  or  doctrine  to 
be  accepted  on  trust ;  it  is  the  demonstrated  result  of 
years  of  experimental  research,  and  as  clearly  demon 
strable  as  any  problem  in  mathematics." 


DIAGRAM    1. 


External  View  of  Atom. 

See  page  51. 


DIAGRAM    2. 


Showing  Sections  of  the  Three  Envelopes. 

See  page  51. 


DIAGRAM   3. 


Showing  Positions  of  Atoms  in  Inner  Envelope. 

See  page  51. 


DIAGRAM    4. 


Showing  Lines  of  Interference  of  Triple  Envelope. 

See  page  51. 


DIAGRAM    5. 


Molecule  showing  Subdivision  of  Matter. 

See  page  51. 


DIAGRAM    6. 


See  page  52. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  BASIS   OF   A   NEW   SCIENCE. 

THE  following  extraordinary  statements  are  given  in 
the  exact  words  of  Aldebaran  as  he  conversed  with 
Madame  Discalcelis  on  the  marvellous  work  in  which 
she  found  him  ever  tirelessly  engaged,  and  she  soon 
became  a  frequent  visitor  to  his  sanctum :  she  was  one 
of  the  very  few  persons  he  always  welcomed. 

"The  newly  discovered  forces,  and  laws  governing 
all  forces,  make  possible  the  processes  herein  described. 
Scientific  investigations  no  longer  consist  in  a  blind 
groping  after  facts;  an  untried  chemical  combination 
can  now  be  planned  and  its  results  predicted.  Synthet 
ical  operations  covering  the  entire  domain  of  organic 
chemistry  can  be  worked  according  to  simple  rules  and 
methods  deducible  from  these  newly  discovered  laws 
and  by  the  aid  of  these,  to  us,  new  forces.  With  a 
knowledge  of  these  facts  it  is  possible  for  man  to  work 
a  wondrous  change  in  his  methods  of  manipulating 
matter. 

"I  shall  be  happy  to  present  you  with  a  table  of 
definitions  which  I  have  written  out  as  briefly  and 
succinctly  as  possible ;  and  though  I  doubt  not  the  defi- 

56 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  57 

nitions  will  be  well-nigh  incomprehensible  to  the  masses, 
you  are  at  liberty  to  make  any  use  of  them  you  please 
in  your  literary  endeavors  to  enlighten  humanity." 


DEFINITIONS. 

ATOMOLES  are  elementary  units  of  matter  uniform  in  size  and 
weight,  and  exist  in  solid,  liquid,  gaseous,  and  isolated  forms. 

ATOMS  are  multiple  combinations  of  atomoles,  and  they  also  exist 
in  solid,  liquid,  gaseous,  and  isolated  forms. 

SIMPLE  MOLECULES  are  formed  by  the  union  of  two  atoms  of  the 
same  kind. 

COMPOUND  MOLECULES  are  unions  of  two  atoms  of  dissimilar 
kind. 

COMPLEX  MOLECULES  are  unions  of  molecules  with  other  mole 
cules  or  atoms. 

PITCH  is  the  relative  frequency  of  vibration. 

VIBRATION  is  the  rhythmical  motion  of  a  body  within  itself. 

OSCILLATION  is  a  rhythmically  recurring  translatory  movement. 

TRANSMISSIVE  ENERGY  is  rhythmical  motion  of  condensation  and 
rarefaction  produced  by  the  vibrating  or  oscillating  body  in  the 
medium  in  which  it  is  immersed. 

ATTRACTION  is  the  mutual  approach  of  aggregates  caused  by  con 
centrated  waves  of  harmonic  energy,  tending  to  move  in  line  of 
least  resistance,  by  becoming  the  centre  of  one  series  of  concen 
tric  waves  instead  of  two  or  more  series. 

HARMONY  is  the  simultaneous  vibration  of  two  or  more  bodies 
whose  harmonics  do  not  produce  discords,  and  whose  funda 
mental  pitches  are  harmonics  of  the  lowest  pitch,  or  are  a 
unison  with  the  resultant  notes  or  overtones,  or  undertones,  of 
any  two  or  more  of  them. 

ETHER  is  an  atomolic  liquid  986,000  times  the  density  of  steel. 

ELECTRICITY  is  the  oscillation  of  the  atomoles  of  an  atom. 

INDUCTION  is  the  transmissive  force  of  the  electric  vibration  in 
ether. 


58  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

MAGNETISM  is  the  mutual  attraction  of  juxtaposed  bodies  vibrat 
ing  at  unison  or  harmonic  electric  pitches. 

GRAVITY  is  the  mutual  attraction  of  atomoles. 

GRAVISM  is  the  transmissive  form  through  a  medium  of  atomoles 
in  the  fourth  state,  or  a  medium  composed  of  atomolini. 

ATOMOLINI  are  ultimate  units  of  atomoles,  and  when  in  a  liquid 
state  are  the  media  for  the  transmission  of  gravism.  The 
illimitable  divisibility  and  aggregation  of  matter  is  a  logical 
sequence. 

1.  Law  of  Matter  and  Force  : 

Coextensive  and  coeternal  with  space  and  duration,  there 
exists  an  infinite  and  unchangeable  quantity  of  atomoles,  the 
base  of  all  matter ;  these  are  in  a  state  of  constant  vibratory 
motion,  infinite  in  extent,  unchangeable  in  quantity,  the 
initial  of  all  forms  of  energy. 

2.  Law  of  Corporeal  Vibrations  : 

All  coherent  aggregates  when  isolated  from  like  bodies,  or 
when  immersed  or  confined  in  media  composed  of  matter  in 
a  different  state,  vibrate  at  a  given  ascertain  able  pitch. 

3.  Law  of  Corporeal  Oscillation  : 

All  coherent  aggregates  not  isolated  from  like  bodies,  oscil 
late  at  a  period-frequency  varying  with  the  tensions  that 
augment  and  diminish  the  state  of  equilibrium. 

4.  Law  of  Harmonic  Vibrations  : 

All  coherent  aggregates  are  perpetually  vibrating  at  a 
period-frequency  corresponding  to  some  harmonic  ratio  of 
the  fundamental  pitch  of  the  vibrating  body ;  this  pitch  is  a 
multiple  of  the  pitch  of  the  atomole. 

5.  Law  of  Transmissive  Vibraic  Energy  : 

All  oscillating  and  vibrating  coherent  aggregates  create, 
in  the  media  in  which  they  are  immersed,  outwardly  propa 
gated  concentric  waves  of  alternate  condensation  and  rarefac 
tion,  having  a  period-frequency  identical  with  the  pitch  of 
the  aggregate. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  69 

Scholium:  All  forms  of  transmissive  energy  can  be  focussed, 
reflected,  refracted,  diffracted,  transformed,  and  diminished  in 
intensity  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance  from  the  origi 
nating  source. 

6.  Law  of  Sympathetic  Oscillation  : 

Coherent  aggregates  immersed  in  a  medium  pulsating  at 
their  natural  pitch  simultaneously  oscillate  with  the  same 
frequency,  whether  the  pitch  of  the  medium  be  a  unison,  or 
any  harmonic  of  the  fundamental  pitch  of  the  creative  aggre 
gate.  . 

7.  Law  of  Attraction  : 

Juxtaposed  coherent  aggregates  vibrating  in  unison,  or  har 
monic  ratio,  are  mutually  attracted. 

8.  Law  of  Repulsion : 

Juxtaposed  coherent  aggregates  vibrating  in  discord  are 
mutually  repelled. 

9.  Law  of  Cycles : 

Coherent  aggregates  harmonically  united  constitute  centres 
of  vibration  bearing  relation  to  the  fundamental  pitch  not 
multiples  of  the  harmonic  pitch,  and  the  production  of  secon 
dary  unions  between  themselves  generate  pitches  that  are  dis 
cords,  either  in  their  unisons,  or  overtones  with  the  original 
pitch ;  from  harmony  is  generated  discord,  the  inevitable  cause 
of  perpetual  transformation. 

10.  Law  of  Harmonic  Pitch  : 

Any  aggregate  in  a  state  of  vibration  develops  in  addition 
to  its  fundamental  pitch  a  series  of  vibration  in  symmetrical 
sub-multiple  portions  of  itself,  bearing  ratios  of  one,  two,  three, 
or  more  times  its  fundamental  pitch. 

11.  Law  of  Force  : 

Energy  manifests  itself  in  three  forms :  Creative,  the  vibrat 
ing  aggregate ;  Transmissive,  being  the  propagation  of  isoch 
ronous  waves  through  the  media  in  which  it  is  immersed; 
Attractive,  being  its  action  upon  other  aggregates  capable  of 
vibrating  in  unisons  or  harmony. 


60  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

12.  Law  of  Oscillating  Atomic  Substances : 

Coherent  atomic  substances  are  capable  of  oscillating  at  a 
pitch  varying  directly  as  the  density,  and  inversely  as  the 
linear  dimensions  from  one  period  of  frequency  per  unit  of 
time  to  the  21st  octave  above,  producing  the  creative  force 
of  Sonity,  whose  transmissive  force  (Sound)  is  propagated 
through  the  media  of  solids,  liquids,  and  gases,  and  whose  static 
effect  (Sonism)  produces  attractions  and  repulsions  between 
sympathetically  vibrating  bodies  according  to  the  Law  of  Har 
monic  Attraction  and  Repulsion. 

13.  Law  of  Sono-thermity : 

Internal  vibrations  of  atomic  substances  and  atomic  mole 
cules  are  capable  of  vibrating  at  a  period-frequency  directly 
as  their  density,  inversely  as  their  linear  dimensions,  directly 
as  the  coefficient  of  their  tension  from  the  21st  to  the  42d 
octaves,  producing  the  creative  force  (Sono-thermity),  whose 
transmissive  force  (Sono-therm)  is  propagated  in  solid,  liquid, 
gaseous,  and  ultra-gaseous  media,  statically  producing  adhesions 
and  molecular  unions,  or  disintegration,  according  to  the  Law 
of  Harmonic  Attraction  and  Repulsion. 

14.  Law  of  Oscillating  Atoms  : 

All  atoms  when  in  a  state  of  tension  are  capable  of  oscillat 
ing  at  a  pitch  inversely  as  the  cube  of  their  atomic  weights, 
and  directly  as  their  tension  from  42  to  63  octaves  per  second, 
producing  the  creative  force  (Thermism),  whose  transmissive 
force  (Rad-energy)  propagated  in  solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous 
ether,  produces  the  static  effects  (Cohesion  and  Chemism)  on 
other  atoms  of  association,  or  dissociation,  according  to  the 
Law  of  Harmonic  Attraction  and  Repulsion. 

Scholium :  Dark  radiant  heat  begins  at  absolute  zero  tem 
perature,  and  extends  through  light,  chemical  rays,  actinic 
rays,  and  infra-violet  rays,  up  to  the  dissociation  of  all  mole 
cules  to  the  63d  octave. 

15.  Law  of  Vibrating  Atornolic  Substances  : 

Atoms  are  capable  of  vibrating  within  themselves  at  a  pitch 
inversely  as  the  Dyne  (the  local  coefficient  of  Gravity),  and 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  EOCK.  61 

as  the  atomic  volume,  directly  as  the  atomic  weight,  producing 
the  creative  force  (Electricity),  whose  transmissive  force  is 
propagated  through  atomolic  solids,  liquids,  and  gases,  pro 
ducing  induction  and  the  static  effect  of  magnetism  upon 
other  atoms  of  attraction  or  repulsion,  according  to  the  Law 
of  Harmonic  Attraction  and  Repulsion. 

Scholium  :  The  phenomena  of  Dynamic  Electricity  through 
a  metallic  conductor  and  of  induction  are  identical.  In  a 
metallic  conductor,  the  transmission  is  from  atom  to  atom, 
through  homologous  interstices,  filled  with  ether,  presenting 
small  areas  in  close  proximity.  In  crystalline  structures,  heat, 
which  expands  the  atoms,  by  twisting  them  produces  striae, 
increases  the  resistance,  etc.  Between  parallel  wires  and 
through  air  the  induction  takes  place  from  large  areas  through 
a  rarefied  medium  composed  of  a  mixture  of  substances,  whose 
atoms  are  separated  by  waves  of  repulsion  of  various  pitches, 
discordant  to  electric  vibrations ;  the  said  atoms  sympatheti 
cally  absorb  the  vibrations  and  dissipate  from  themselves,  as 
centres,  concentric  waves  of  electric  energy  which  produces 
heat  and  gravism. 

16.  Law  of  Oscillating  Atomoles : 

Atomoles  oscillating  at  a  uniform  pitch  (determined  by  their 
uniform  size  and  weight)  produce  the  creative  force  Atomolin/, 
whose  transmissive  form,  Gravism,  is  propagated  through  more 
rarefied  media,  producing  the  static  effect  upon  all  other  ato- 
moles,  denominated  Gravity. 

17.  Law  of  Transformation  of  Forces : 

All  forces  are  different  forms  of  Universal  Energy  unlike  in 
their  period-frequency,  merging  into  each  other  by  impercepti 
ble  increments ;  each  form  representing  the  compass  of  21 
octaves.  Each  form  or  pitch  may  be  transformed  into  an 
equivalent  quantity  of  another  pitch  above  or  below  it  in  the 
scale  of  105  octaves.  The  transformation  can  occur  only , 
through  its  static  effect,  developing  vibrations  of  harmonic 
pitches  above  and  below  their  fundamental  vibration,  or  de 
veloping  with  juxtaposed  aggregates,  resultant  and  difference, 
or  third  order,  as  the  case  may  be. 


62          DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

Scholium :  A  table  of  the  intervals  and  harmonics  of  the 
normal  harmonic  scale  will  indicate  the  ratios  in  which  the 
transformation  of  forces  will  occur. 

18.  Law  of  Atomic  Pitch  : 

Atoms  have  each  a  different  and  definite  pitch,  at  which 
they  naturally  vibrate. 

Scholium :  Atomic  pitch  is  determined  directly  from  its 
simple  spectrum. 

Scholium  :  Atomic  pitch  is  determined  by  computations  from 
its  associate  spectrum  with  all  other  atoms,  as  in  known  spectra. 

Scholium:  Atomic  pitches  are  more  important  working  data 
than  atomic  weights ;  tables  of  atomic  pitches  must  be  precise. 

19.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Pitch  by  Rad-energy : 

The  higher  harmonics  and  overtones  of  projected  rad-energy 
are  of  a  pitch  sufficiently  high  to  cause  the  atom  to  expand; 
by  causing  the  atomoles  to  vibrate  systematically  the  same 
influence  will  cause  the  atom  to  contract,  and  thus  by  chang 
ing  the  volume,  atomic  pitch  is  varied. 

20.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Pitch  by  Electricity  and  Mag 

netism  : 

Electricity  and  Magnetism  produce  internal  vibrations  in 
the  atom,  which  are  followed  by  proportional  changes  in  vol 
ume  and,  therefore,  pitch. 

21.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Pitch  by  Temperature : 

Atoms  in  chemical  combination  oscillate  with  increasing 
amplitude  directly  as  the  temperature,  and  simultaneously  ab 
sorb  overtones  of  higher  harmonics,  producing  expansion  of 
volume  and  diminution  of  pitch. 

Rule :  The  gradual  approach  of  the  temperature  of  har 
monic  combination  can  be  observed  by  mutually  comparing 
superimposed  spectra;  chemical  combination  commences  when 
the  fundamental  lines  of  each  spectrum  bear  harmonic  ratios 
by  linear  measurement. 

22.  Law  of  Pitch  of  Atomic  Oscillation  : 

Atoms  not  isolated  and  in  a  state  of  tension  between  forces 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.          63 

that  oppose  and  increase  the  equilibrium  oscillate  bodily  at  a 
pitch  that  is  a  resultant  of  the  atomic  weight,  atomic  volume, 
and  tension. 

23.  Law  of  Variation  of  Pitch  of  Atomic  Oscillation  by  Pressure  : 

The  frequency  of  atomic  oscillation  increases  and  dimin 
ishes  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  pressure. 

24.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Oscillation  by  Temperature  : 

The  force  of  cohesion  diminishes  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  distance  the  atoms  are  apart,  and  the  force  of  the  chemi 
cal  affinity  diminishes  in  the  same  ratio.  Heat  increases  the 
amplitude  of  the  oscillations  in  a  direct  ratio  to  the  tempera 
ture  of  the  natural  scale. 

Scholium :  New  thermometers  and  accurate  thermometric 
tables,  on  the  natural  bases,  wherein  doubling  the  temperature 
doubles  the  pitch  of  the  transmissive  energy,  are  required. 
Such  a  table  of  temperature  will  bear  natural  relations  to 
atomic  weights,  pitches,  specific  heats,  chemical  affinities, 
fusions,  solubilities,  etc.,  and  will  disclose  new  laws.  One 
table  for  each  must  be  constructed. 

25.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Oscillation  by  Electricity  : 

The  electric  current  destroys  cohesion  and  chemical  tension 
directly  as  square  of  current  in  amperes,  inversely  as  the 
resistance  in  ohms,  inversely  as  the  chemical  equivalent,  and 
conversely  as  the  coefficient  of  the  difference  between  the 
freezing  and  volatilizing  temperature  of  mass  acted  upon. 

26.  Law  of  Variation  of  Atomic  Oscillation  by  Sono-thermism  : 

Diminishes  the  tensions  directly  as  the  quantity  of  heat 
developed,  and  in  antithetical  proportion  to  the  harmonics 
absolved. 

27.  Law  of  Chemical  Affinity : 

Atoms  whose  atomic  pitches  are  in  either  unison,  harmonic 
or  concordant  ratios,  unite  to  form  molecules. 

Corollary:  When  two  atoms  are  indifferent,  they  may  be 
made  to  unite  by  varying  the  pitch  of  either,  or  both. 


64  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

Scholium :  This  necessitates  the  construction  of  tables  rep 
resenting  variation  of  atomic  pitches  by  temperature,  press 
ure,  etc. 

Scholium:  Tables  of  all  harmonics  and  concords,  and  har 
monics  founded  upon  a  normal  harmonic  scale,  are  equally 
essential. 

Scholium:  Optical  instruments  may  be  made  to  measure 
pitches  of  energy. 

28.  Law  of  Chemical  Dissociation  : 

If  the  pitch  of  either  atom,  in  a  molecule,  be  raised  or  low 
ered  ;  or,  if  they  both  be  unequally  raised  or  lowered  in  pitch 
until  the  mutual  ratio  be  that  of  a  discord ;  or,  if  the  oscilla 
tion  amplitude  be  augmented  by  heat  until  the  atoms  are  with 
the  concentric  waves  of  attraction,  —  the  atoms  will  separate. 

29.  Law  of  Chemical  Transposition  : 

New  molecules  must  be  harmonics  of  the  fundamental  pitch. 

30.  Law  of  Chemical  Substitution  (too  complex  for  brief  state 

ment)  . 

31.  Law  of  Catalysis: 

The  presence  of  harmonics  and  discords. 

32.  Law  of  Molecular  Synthesis  and  Combination  (Organic)  : 

The  molecular  pitch  must  be  a  derived  harmony  of  the 
radicals. 

Scholium :  Reconstruction  of  electric  units  to  represent 
pitches  and  amplitudes. 

33.  Law  of  Chemical  Morphology : 

The  angle  of  crystallization  is  determined  by  the  relation 
between  the  molecular  pitch  of  the  crystallizing  substance  to 
the  vibration-density  of  the  liquid  depositing  it. 

34.  Law  of  Atomic  Dissociation: 

Overtones  of  high  rad-energy  pitches  produce  separation  of 
the  atomoles  and  recombinations  among  the  atomolic  mole 
cules  of  the  atoms. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  65 

35.  Law  of  Atomolic  Synthesis  of  Chemical  Elements : 

Harmonic  pitches  of  atomolity  produce  association  of  etheric- 
atomolic  particles  to  form  atoms :  the  kind  of  atom  is  deter- 
minable  by  the  pitches  employed. 

36.  Law  of  Heat : 

Atoms  under  the  tension  of  chemical  combination  oscillate 
with  an  amplitude  directly  as  the  temperature,  inversely  as  the 
pressure,  and  as  the  square  of  the  specific  heat.  Diminishing 
the  pitch  of  oscillation  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance 
of  the  atoms  apart,  and  simultaneously  increasing  the  vibrating 
pitch  of  the  atom  by  absorption  of  overtones  and  higher  har 
monics. 

37.  Law  of  Electro-chemical  Equivalents : 

An  atom  vibrates  sympathetically  under  the  influence  of 
electric  energy,  such  undertones  of  which  are  absorbed  as  are 
a  harmonic  or  harmony  of  the  electric  pitch ;  the  amount  of 
energy  absorbed  being  directly  as  the  arithmetical  ratio  of  the 
undertone  of  the  fundamental  electric  pitch. 

Scholium :  A  table  of  electro-chemical  equivalents  on  the 
normal  basis  will  indicate  the  electrical  conditions  and  amount 
of  chemical  change. 

38.  Law  of  Cohesion : 

The  cohesion  between  atoms  diminishes  directly  as  the 
square  root  of  the  pressure  and  temperature,  and  as  the  square 
of  electric  intensity. 

39.  Law  of  Refractive  Indices : 

A  table  of  the  refractive  indices  of  substances  indicates  their 
molecular  pitch ;  and  in  connection  with  crystalline  form  the 
phase  of  molecular  oscillation. 

40.  Law  of  Electric  Conductivity : 

Electric  energy  is  transmitted  through  homogeneous  bodies 
with  a  completeness  in  direct  proportion  as  the  atoms  are  more 
or  less  perfect  harmonics  of  the  electric  pitch,  but  not  at  all 
through  substances  whose  atoms  are  discordant  to  the  electric 


66  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

pitch ;  also  through  molecular  substances,  when  their  resultant 
notes  are  harmonics  of  the  electric  pitch,  —  the  transmissions 
being  inversely  as  the  temperature,  directly  as  the  density 
diminished  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  crystallization,  and 
inversely  as  the  cube  of  the  dyne,  also  directly  as  the  recipro 
cal  of  the  local  magnetic  intensity. 

As  we  believe  the  above  statements  to  be  of  priceless 
value  to  the  world,  in  proportion  as  they  are  compre 
hended,  we  offer  no  apology  to  our  readers  for  introduc 
ing  so  many  technicalities,  but  publish  them  in  the 
expectant  hope  that  some  struggling  seeker  after  scien 
tific  verity  may  find  in  them  a  key  to  the  solution  of 
many  perplexing  mysteries. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  AGNOSTIC    AND   THE  MYSTIC. 

HAVING  been  permitted  by  Madame  Discalcelis  to 
see  some  of  the  wonderful  documents  which  Aldebaran 
kindly  permitted  her  to  carry  home,  Professor  Monteith 
was  in  quite  a  flurry  of  excitement  when  the  hour  came 
that  he  was  at  liberty  to  present  himself  before  the 
mysterious  young  man  so  deeply  versed  in  occult 
knowledge. 

With  scarcely  a  preliminary,  for  time  was  precious, 
Aldebaran  at  once  entered  upon  the  following  profound 
reply  to  the  professor's  first  inquiry,  which  was:  "I 
crave  especially  some  light,  indeed  all  you  can  give  me, 
on  the  moral  or  spiritual  bearings  of  your  philosophy. 
By  what  term,"  inquired  Professor  Monteith,  "shall  we 
define  that  force  which,  when  differentiated,  expresses 
itself  on  the  lower  planes  of  manifestation  as  charity, 
self-forgetfulness,  compassion,  and  the  tendency  of  all 
illuminated  ones  to  association  in  universal  brother 
hood?" 

"I  hold,"  responded  Aldebaran,  "that  ONE  SUPREME 
FORCE,  which  we  may  term  the  incomprehensible,  holds 
within  itself  all  these  sublime  qualities,  as  an  octave 

67 


68  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

embraces  its  many  tones.  This  force  expressed  in  the 
human  organism,  in  the  varied  impulses  already  desig 
nated,  has  what  may  be  termed  CONCORDANT  CHORD- 
SETTINGS  dominated  by  one  or  other  of  the  above-named 
differentiations  of  this  supreme  force.  Now  let  us  ask 
what  makes  human  beings  differ  the  one  from  the  other. 
The  reason  we  give  for  this  striking  natural  phenomenon 
is  that  in  one  individual  these  chord-settings  are  allowed 
full  amplitude  in  action,  while  in  others  they  are  sup 
pressed,  and  by  suppression  rendered  latent.  To  illus 
trate  :  we  will  picture  a  beggar  asking  alms  of  a  richly 
dressed  gentleman,  who  passes  by  entirely  oblivious  of 
the  suppliant's  needs ;  but  here  the  wonderful  law  of  sym 
pathetic  action  intercedes,  making  the  wealthy  individ 
ual  comprehend  the  necessitous  condition  of  the  pauper. 
At  this  point  the  ego  enters  the  chamber  of  ordeal ;  here, 
in  commonplace  life,  in  every-day  surroundings,  man  is 
tried;  this  is  initiation.  The  well-to-do  man  goes  on 
his  way,  not  caring  to  stop,  hurried  perchance  by  the 
urgency  of  worldly  affairs ;  the  chord-setting  represent 
ing  that  differentiation  of  infinite  force  called  by  us 
compassion,  acting  upon  its  concordant  chord-setting, 
loudly  proclaims  to  the  ego  what  is  right  action,  and 
the  opportunity  passing  when  it  should  be  seized, 
powerfully  exerts  its  force  against  the  will  of  the 
personality  that  would  suppress  its  action.  Here  is 
where  the  battle  is  fought;  simple  though  the  illustra 
tion  may  appear,  it  forcibly  sets  forth  the  actual  conflict 
continually  waging  between  divine  wisdom  and  mortal 
error,  carelessness,  and  ignorance.  The  man  of  wealth 
and  position  goes  on,  perhaps,  for  some  distance,  the 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  69 

battle  all  the  while  continuing;  finally,  he  stops  and 
turns  back,  he  yields  to  the  dominating  influence  of 
that  chord-setting;  he  gives  the  beggar  alms  and  goes 
on  his  way  with  the  skies  bright  above  him :  he  has  won 
a  battle  he  will  not  have  to  fight  again.  Understand 
that  victory  is  won,  not  by  the  giving  of  alms,  but  by 
yielding  to  that  divine  force-differentiation.  If  this 
chord-setting  had  not  retained  its  dominance,  it  would 
only  require  a  few  instances  of  the  above  type  to  render 
it  latent,  and  when  latent  the  person  is  no  longer 
amenable  to  influences  calculated  to  arouse  compassion. 
In  like  manner,  other  centres  may  be  rendered  latent  by 
repeated  suppression,  until  we  find  a  person  so  dead  to 
all  appeals  from  the  various  chord-settings  that  his 
Avhole  course  in  life  is  represented  by  the  sum-total  of 
the  antagonisms  internally  produced:  results  proving 
this  are  seen  every  day.  You  ask  why  do  people  com 
mit  such  blunders  and  perform  such  acts  as  they  do,  all 
the  while  seemingly  unable  to  help  themselves.  The 
reason  is  that  they  have  rendered  latent  these  centres 
which  otherwise  would  have  given  them  the  power  to 
rightly  control  their  deeds  instead  of  being,  as  they 
now  are,  dominated  exclusively  by  the  forces  of  aggre 
gated  matter  which  we  usually  call  the  self-will  of  the 
outer  personality,  as  distinguished  from  the  distinctly 
humane  individuality  which  always  responds  to  a 
divine  appeal.  It  can  be  readily  seen  from  this  example 
that  a  man  can  mould  himself  practically  as  he  chooses ; 
though  he  may  have  to  encounter  many  obstacles  erected 
by  himself  in  past  periods  of  earthly  existence,  as  he 
comes  to  earth  anew  with  these  chord-settings  latent, 


70  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROC£. 

or  developed  to  the  extent  they  were  so,  at  the  conclu 
sion  of  his  last  earth-embodiment;  a  man  has  therefore 
only  to  carefully  examine  the  condition  of  these  settings 
to  learn  whether  they  are  latent  or  developed :  if  latent, 
he  knows  well  that  if  he  yields  to  the  dominance  of  the 
chord-settings  of  the  supreme  force  —  and  he  needs  no 
monitor  other  than  these  to  instruct  him,  their  voice 
being  loud-toned,  full,  strong,  deep,  and  high  —  to  carry 
him  on  to  the  consummation  of  his  highest  ideal,  their 
suppression  leading  him  to  the  lowest  condition  in 
which  we  behold  that  section  of  humanity  which  is 
dominated  by  the  action  of  the  blind  forces  inherent  in 
aggregated  matter, — forces  which  are  at  all  times 
powerfully  and  intimately  associated  with  every  one  who 
possesses  a  material  body.  The  work  of  arousing  to 
activity  the  latent  chord-settings  is  sometimes  equiva 
lent  to  giving  birth  to  an  entirely  new  condition  in  the 
person,  the  intellect  and  the  imagination  having  to 
actively  co-operate  in  the  endeavor  to  produce  even  the 
minutest  degree  of  activity.  In  such  persons  their 
hardest  experiences  may  be  of  the  greatest  benefit  to 
them,  if  rightly  taken ;  for  it  is  through  certain  orders 
of  experience  —  not  unattended  with  suffering  —  that 
these  centres  are  powerfully  acted  upon.  The  fore 
going  illustration  of  the  merchant  and  the  beggar 
introduces  one  in  whom  the  action  of  these  centres  is 
to  a  certain  degree  active.  In  experiences  where  the 
emotions  are  intensely  aroused  their  action  is  far  greater, 
and  we  may  see  the  result  of  the  conflict,  in  the  event 
of  a  person  of  hitherto  unnoticeable  traits  being  devel 
oped  either  into  a  person  of  crabbed,  irritable  disposition 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  KOCtf.  71 

or  into  one  of  considerable  moral  beauty  and  attractive 
ness,  and  all  because  a  centre  hitherto  dormant  has  been 
powerfully  aroused  or  more  completely  suppressed. 
Who  knows  but  that  all  the  varieties  of  disposition  we 
see  expressed  every  hour  in  the  persons  of  those  about 
us  is  due  to  HABIT;  in  the  case  of  the  sweet  and 
lovable,  to  the  habit  of  constant  }delding  to  the  domi 
nance  of  what  we  may  term  super-celestial  force,  while 
on  the  other  hand,  the  sour  and  morose  are  but  the 
suffering  victims  of  their  own  habitual  suppression  of 
these  same  divine  centres  of  radiation,  which  are  contin 
ually  dispersing  the  divine  energy  focalized  upon  them 
throughout  the  eternal  ages  of  un wasting  life.  Con 
cerning  circumstances  let  it  be  most  emphatically  stated 
that  they  never  need  be  permitted  to  suppress  the  up 
ward  tendencies  of  our  nature ;  that  they  have,  like  all 
experiences,  an  opportunity  contained  within  them,  to 
act  either  for  the  more  perfect  dominance  of  the  celestial 
or  the  terrestrial,  none  need  deny;  but  it  rests  with  every 
individual  to  embrace  or  reject  opportunities  as  he  will, 
to  accept  the  honors  of  initiation  or  undergo  the  regrets 
consequent  upon  failure.  Only  the  keen,  sensitive  soul 
can  understand  when  these  opportunities  come  and  go, 
for  only  such  have  won  this  right  by  successive  vic 
tories  gained  through  yielding  to  these  celestial  streams 
of  force,  and  the  conqueror  over  himself  is  the  victor 
always,  though  he  may  seem  sometimes  to  yield  obedience 
to  a  force  greater  than  himself.  Let  the  supreme  desire 
of  each  one  of  us  ever  be  that  these  resonating  centres, 
permanent  throughout  .measureless  cycles  of  time,  grad 
uated  by  the  all-wise  builders  of  the  universe  to  perfect 


72          DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

concordance  with  the  Divine  Force  which  is  in  essence 
incomprehensible, —  shall  vibrate  to  fullest  amplitude 
of  action ;  so  shall  we  each  escape  from  the  pains,  sorrows, 
and  disappointments  associated  with  their  suppression 
and  inevitably  resulting  from  it." 

Here  was  what  appeared  to  the  professor,  at  least,  the 
possible  basis  of  a  rational  and  yet  religious  philosophy, 
and  the  mystic's  scientific  attainments  were  unquestion 
ably  greater  than  his  own ;  therefore,  when  bidding  his 
patient,  earnest  preceptor  a  cordial  au  revoir,  he  felt 
within  him  that  now  at  last  gnosticism  vs.  agnosticism 
might  win  the  victory  in  his  consciousness,  and  he 
prayed  that  it  might  be  so. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  NEW   SCIENTIFIC   EEVELATION. 

AFTER  this  first  pleasant  interview  between  Aldebaran 
and  Professor  Moriteith,  visits  between  these  singularly 
dissimilar  men  became  quite  frequent,  and  indeed  so 
absorbed  did  the  latter  become  in  the  teachings  and 
demonstrations  of  the  former  that  scarcely  a  day  passed, 
provided  both  had  some  little  leisure,  without  a  renewal 
of  the  study  of  the  subjects  which  lay  nearest  to  the 
hearts  of  both.  How  they  chatted,  argued,  calculated, 
demonstrated,  could  it  be  recorded,  would  fill  many  a 
bulky  volume,  and  as  it  is  impossible  to  follow  the 
processes  of  their  inquiring  minds  through  all  these 
subtle  ramifications,  we  may  best  show  the  result  of  these 
wise  and  profitable  deliberations  by  reproducing  the 
amazing  manuscripts  which  Professor  Monteith  brought 
to  Lady  Porchester's  reception  on  the  last  Monday 
afternoon  of  July,  just  as  the  season  was  concluding. 
It  was  an  occasion  when  several  scientific  celebrities 
were  present,  and  was  passed  from  hand  to  hand  for 
their  perusal.  The  Professor  personally  refrained  from 
offering  comment  or  criticism,  and  watched  with  intense 
interest  the  faces  of  his  fellow  guests  as  they  read. 

73 


74  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

Mathematical   Demonstration   of  the  Size  of  an  Atom. 
Its  Weight  and  Volume. 

A  rectangular,  or  preferably,  a  circular,  disc  is  sus 
pended  from  the  ceiling  of  a  room  in  such  a  manner 
that  vibrations  cannot  be  communicated  to  it  from  the 
vibrating  walls  of  the  room.  It  is  then  experimentally 
determined  to  what  fundamental  note  the  metal  plate 
sympathetically  vibrates.  Then,  according  to  the  law 
of  linear  dimensions,  which  is  equally  applicable  to 
solids,  liquids,  or  gases,  it  is  mathematically  deter 
mined  what  size  of  plate  will  produce  successive  octaves 
above  that  pitch,  until  a  size  of  plate  is  obtained  capa 
ble  of  producing  a  period-frequency  corresponding  to 
that  of  dark  radiant  heat,  which  we  know  is  produced 
by  the  oscillations  of  atoms,  and  is  termed  therma.  The 
vibrating  atomic  substance  of  the  plate  is  capable  of 
producing  the  trarismissive  force  called  sound  and  sono- 
thermism,  which  is  propagated  through  atomic  media 
by  wave -motion,  but  which  cannot  be  propagated  through 
space  devoid  of  atomic  substance.  But  when  the  plate 
has  been  reduced  theoretically  to  a  size  sufficiently  in 
finitesimal  to  correspond  to  the  maximum  or  minimum 
size  of  an  atom,  as  determined  by  the  atomic  researches  of 
Professors  Tait  &  Clerk  Maxwell,  we  reach  vibration 
frequency  so  high  that  it  can  be  propagated  through  a 
vacuum  devoid  of  atomic  substance,  as  a  transmissive 
force  called  rad-energy,  beginning  with  dark  radiant 
heat.  And  be  it  carefully  observed  that  period-frequency 
corresponds  with  that  of  dark  rad-energy.  The  law 
of  linear  dimensions  may  be  thus  stated:  The  vibra- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  75 

tion-periods  of  two  similarly  circumstanced  homologous 
bodies  are  to  each  other  as  their  cubical  contents,  and 
therefore  the  vibration-frequencies  of  homologous  metal 
plates  are  to  each  other  as  the  inverse  ratio  of  their 
linear  dimensions.  The  octave  of  a  given  plate  will  be 
a  homologous  plate  having  ^  of  its  volume.  A  circular 
disc  twenty  inches  in  diameter  and  one  inch  thick  vi 
brates,  e.g,,  1024  times  per  second.  The  ten  octaves 
from  unity  successively  reducing  the  size  of  the  disc  by 
•|,  we  get  at  each  reduction  the  octave  of  the  previous 
pitch,  and  at  any  given  octave  we  have  the  volume, 
weight,  and  vibration-frequency  of  the  vibrating  atomic 
substance. 

Ten  octave,  1024  vibrations  per  second;  metal  disc, 
twenty  inches  in  diameter,  one  inch  thick.  To  get  the 
cubical  contents  of  this  vibrating  aggregate  it  is  neces 
sary  to  square  the  diameter;  we  multiply  by  0.7854, 
which  is  equal  to  314.16  inches  in  volume.  Starting 
from  this  point,  we  progress  through  successive  octaves 
upward,  increasing  in  pitch  and  diminishing  in  size. 

THE  SCALE  OF  FOECES. 

First  octave  (unity  per  second)  is  approximately  the 
lowest  frequency  capable  of  producing  waves  of  rarefac 
tion  and  condensation  in  the  air.  The  atomic  aggregate 
oscillating  at  this  pitch  can  be  experimentally  deter 
mined,  and  the  aggregate  vibrating  at  a  pitch  one  octave 
higher  will  have  a  mass  lying  between  ^  and  the  cube 
root  of  the  mass  of  the  first-mentioned  aggregate ;  the 
exact  relation  under  varying  conditions  of  gravity,  mag- 


76  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK, 

netic  saturation,  and  pressure,  can  be  determined  only 
by  accurate  measurements.  But  assuming  a  body  of  a 
size  represented  by  x,  with  a  pitch  represented  by  1024 
per  second,  then  a  pitch  of  2048  per  second  will  be  pro 
duced  by  a  body  having  a  volume  of  some  mean  between 
£  of  x  and  the  cube  root  of  x.  By  accurately  determining 
the  pitch  of  a  volume  of  any  metallic  sphere  capable  of 
oscillating  at  the  pitch  of,  e.g.,  the  eleventh  octave  of 
sonity  (1024  per  second),  under  normal  conditions  of 
gravity,  pressure,  magnetism,  and  then  successively 
diminishing  its  size  by  ^  of  itself,  we  get  the  successive 
octaves  of  pitches  higher  and  higher  in  period-frequency 
until  we  pass  the  domain  of  sonity  and  enter  the  domain 
of  sono-thermity .  The  point  where  the  one  form  of 
energy  merges  into  the  other  lies  approximately  at  the 
twenty-first  octave,  and  this  pitch  also  marks  the  point 
where  the  air  is  no  longer  capable  of  vibrating  at  that 
pitch  in  waves  of  transverse  form.  This  first  gamut  of 
21|  octaves  consists  of  three  forms ;  viz.  sonity,  sound, 
and  sonism.  The  following  is  a  tabulation  of  the 
pitches  of  sonity  in  octaves  from  one  vibration  per 
second  to  where  the  next  form  of  energy  commences. 

FKAUNHOFER  LINES. 

The  Fraunhofer  lines  represent  the  silences,  or  the 
places  of  invisible  pitches  between  the  luminous  pitches 
of  rad-energy.  They  cannot  therefore  be  conveniently 
used  as  data  from  which  to  measure  the  fundamental 
pitches  of  the  atoms  undergoing  examination.  When 
a  series  of  sound-pencils  are  projected  upon  a  screen, 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  77 

they  undergo  a  combination  of  overtones  and  under 
tones  at  the  point  of  contact  producing  tones  of  a 
pitch  either  too  low  to  be  recognized  by  the  human  ear 
or  too  high  to  be  called  sound.  The  Fraunhofer  lines 
are  not  therefore  simply  silences,  but  may  be  the  higher 
invisible  ultra-actinic  rays.  The  fact  is  that  some  of 
the  Fraunhofer  lines  are  capable  of  producing  a  variety 
of  chemical  actions,  when  reflected  and  focalized.  Ob 
servation  thus  far  shows  that  these  lines  do  not  bear 
any  definite  ascertainable  relation  to  the  pitches  pro 
ducing  them,  but  that  they  do  bear  some  uniform 
relation  from  which  the  fundamental  pitch  could  be 
determined  cannot  be  doubted.  The  relation  of  the 
Fraunhofer  lines  to  the  luminous  spectra  are  undoubtedly 
such  as  would  enable  one  to  compute  the  creative 
pitches  producing  them ;  but  as  yet  no  such  determina 
tions  have  been  made.  The  accurate  method  of  deter 
mining  them  is  from  the  mutual  relation  of  the  har 
monic  pitches  of  the  luminous  spectra. 

A  table  representing  the  harmonic  overtones  and 
undertones  of  simple  vibrations,  and  the  resultant 
harmonics  of  associate  vibrations,  will  be  of  great 
convenience  in  making  these  determinations. 

The  natural  unity  of  sonity  lies  above  1  per  second, 
and  below  2  per  second,  and  for  this  reason  the  number 
ing  of  the  octaves  is  accomplished  by  calling  the  end 
of  the  first  octave  No.  1  instead  of  No.  2.  At  the  end 
of  the  twenty-first  octave  sono-thermity  commences,  and 
the  bodies  oscillating  at  this  pitch  are  either  corre 
spondingly  smaller  by  ^  than  the  preceding  sonitic 
aggregates;  or  larger  aggregates  undergo  vibration  in 


78  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

submultiple  portions  of  themselves.  In  either  case  the 
originating  oscillation  of  a  sono-thermic  pitch  is  that  of 
an  isolated  or  localized  aggregation.  This  first  class 
of  forces,  or  first  double  gamut,  is  included  within  the 
range  of  about  forty-three  octaves.  The  bodies  of  the 
first  gamut  oscillate  with  a  rhythmically  recurring 
translatory  pendulous  motion  and  produce  waves  of  a 
transverse  form,  while  the  bodies  of  the  second  gamut 
undergo  internal  nodal  vibration  and  produce  waves  of 
a  longitudinal  form.  Beyond  the  upper  limit  of  the 
forty-third  octave  we  reach  bodies  of  a  size  (determined 
by  the  same  method  as  in  sonity)  which  we  know  to  be 
about  the  size  of  an  atom  as  approximately  determined 
by  various  physicists  to  lie  between  eleven  and  twelve 
micromillimeters  (hydrogen  molecules),  which  gives  the 
highest  pitch  of  the  known  atoms,  and  from  which  can 
be  roughly  jestimated  the  pitch  of  the  heavier  atoms. 
Starting  with  the  approximate  pitch  of  hydrogen  as 
determined  from  its  associate  spectrum  with  oxygen, 
and  working  back  to  the  size  of  the  largest  atoms,  we 
again  reach  a  pitch  corresponding  to  the  highest  sono- 
thermic  vibrations.  Starting  with  the  known  tempera 
ture  and  pitch  of  a  heated  body,  emitting  definite  rays 
of  light,  and  working  back  to  absolute  zero,  We  again 
reach  the  pitch  of  the  sono-thermic  limit. 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 
FIRST  CLASS. 

SCALE   OF   THE   FORCES   IN   OCTAVES. 


79 


Sonity,  Sound,  and  Sonism. 


No.  of  Octaves.                        Period-frequency. 
Unity  per  Second. 

1st. 

2. 

2d. 

4. 

3d. 

8. 

4th. 

16. 

5th. 

32. 

6th. 

64. 

7th. 

128. 

8th. 

256. 

9th. 

512. 

10th. 

1024. 

llth. 

2048. 

12th. 

4096. 

13th. 

8192. 

14th. 

16,384. 

15th. 

32,768. 

16th. 

65,536. 

17th. 

131,072. 

18th. 

262,144. 

19th. 

524,288. 

20th. 

1,048,576. 

21st. 

2,097,152. 

Maj.  5th. 

3,145,728. 

Sono-thermity,  Sono-therm, 

Sono-thermism. 

22d. 

4,194,304. 

23d. 

8,388,606. 

24th. 

16,777,216. 

25th. 

33,554,432. 

26th. 

67,108,864. 

80  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

No  of  Octaves         Period.frequenc 
Unity  per  Second. 

27th.  134,217,728. 

28th.  268,435,456. 

29th.  536,870,912. 

30th.  1,073,741,824. 

31st.  2,147,483,648. 

32d.  4,294,967,296. 

33d.  8,589,934,592. 

34th.  17,179,869,184. 

35th.  34,359,738,368. 

36th.  68,719,476,736. 

37th.  137,438,953,472. 

38th.  274,877,906,944. 

39th.  549,755,813,888. 

40th.  1,099,511,627,776. 

41st.  2,199,023,255,552. 

42d.  4,398,046,511,104. 

SECOND  CLASS. 

Thermism,  Rad-energy,  Chemism. 

43d.  8,796,093,022,208.     Dark  heat  begins. 

44th.  17,592,186,044,416. 

45th.  35,184,372,088,832. 

46th.  70,368,744,177,664.     Chemism  begins. 

47th.  140,737,488,355,328.     Infra-red.  [begins. 

48th.  281,474,976,710,656.     Major  fourth  (above).    Light 

49th.  562,949,953,421,312.     Below   Major    fourth.    Light 

50th.  1,125,899,906,842,624.  [ends. 

51st.  2,251,799,813,685,248. 

52d.  4,503,599,627,370,496.     Limit  actinic. 

53d.  9,007,199,254,740,992. 

54th.  10,814,398,509,481,984. 

55th.  36,028,797,018,963,968.     Chemism  ends. 

56th.  72,057,594,037,927,936. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK.  81 

No.  of  Octave*.  Period-frequency. 

Unity  per  Second. 

57th.  144,115,188,075,855,872. 

58th.  288,230,376,151,711,744. 

59th.  576,460,752,303,423,488. 

60th.  1,152,921,504,606,846,976. 

61st.  2,305,843,009,213,693,952. 

62d.  4,611,686,018,427,387,904. 

63d.  9,223,372,036,854,775,808. 

64th.  18,446,744,073,709,551,616. 

Maj.  5th.  27,670,116,110,564,327,424.    Limit  of  thermism. 

Electricity,  Induction,  Magnetism. 

65th.  36,893,488,147,419,103,232. 

66th.  73,786,976,295,838,206,464. 

67th.  147,573,952,591,676,413,928. 

68th.  295,147,905,183,352,827,856.     Copper-zinc  couple. 

69th.  590,295,810,366,705,655,712. 

70th.  1,180,591,620,733,411,311,424. 

71st.  2,361,183,241,466,822,622,848.     50,000  volts. 

72d.  4,722,366,482,933,645,245,696. 

73d.  9,444,732,965,867,290,491,392. 

74th.  18,889,465,931,745,580,982,784. 

75th.  37,778,931,863,469,161,965,568. 

76th.  75,557,863,726,938,323,931,136. 

77th.  151,115,727,453,875,647,862,772. 

78th.  302,231,454,907,753,295,724,544. 

79th.  604,462,909,815,506,591,449,088. 

80th.  1,208,925,819,631,013,182,898,176. 

81st.  2,417,851,639,762,026,365,796,352. 

82d.  4,825,703,278,524,052,731,592,702. 

83d.  9,671,406,557,048,105,463,185,408. 

84th.  19,342,813,114,096,210,926,370,816. 

85th.  38,685,626,228,192,421,852,741,632. 

86th.  77,361,252,456,384,843,705,483,204. 

The  limit  of  electricity  and  the  beginning  of  atomolity. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HOW  NATURE  CURES.  —  A  NEW   FOOD-THEORY. 

IT  was  again  a  Monday  evening,  and  this  time  Lady 
Porchester's  drawing-rooms  were  filled  to  their  utmost 
capacity.  The  occasion  was  one  of  the  closing  literary 
soirees  of  the  season,  at  which  Miss  Pomona  Merton, 
a  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  one  of  the  reigning  belles 
of  the  year,  was  to  read  an  essay  and  then  invite  dis 
cussion  on  "The  Natural  Diet  of  Man." 

Pomona  Merton  looked  intensely  charming,  and  withal 
marvellously  healthy,  as  she  stepped  gracefully  on 
to  the  raised  dais  which  constituted  the  impromptu 
platform  from  which  she  was  to  address  her  eagerly 
expectant  audience.  The  wonder  was  that  she  could 
look  so  blooming,  considering  that  she  had  been  "  every 
where  "  during  the  past  three  months,  and  now,  when 
other  girls  were  utterly  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  fash 
ionable  dissipation,  she  was  all  aglow  with  the  roses  of 
perfect  health  and  vigor.  Her  constitution  was  not  ex 
tremely  good  to  start  with.  Her  mother  had  not  been 
a  strong  woman ;  and  when  five  years  earlier  she  had 
(then  in  her  sixteenth  year)  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Drs.  Frugus  and  Helena  Moresden  she  was  supposed 

82 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOCK.  83 

by  her  physician  to  be  tottering  on  the  verge  of  incipi 
ent  tuberculosis.  Her  sole  diet  for  the  past  two  years 
had  been  nuts  and  fruit,  though  for  three  years  previous 
she  had  eaten  sparingly  of  meat,  and  fish  also,  but  all 
starchy  compounds,  including  bread,  had  been  elimi 
nated  from  her  dietary  during  the  whole  period  of  her 
association  with  the  Moresdens,  who  were  still  making 
a  decided  sensation  in  the  British  metropolis,  not  only 
through  the  weekly  organ  of  their  movement,  but  also 
through  series  of  public  and  private  meetings  at  which 
distinguished  disciples  of  the  "  Natural  Food  "  doctrine 
spoke  eloquently  in  its  defence,  and  vigorously,  though 
most  politely  and  kindly,  refuted  opposition. 

Pomona  Merton  was  the  chief  advocate  on  the  lecture 
platform;  for,  though  young  in  years,  she  was  old  in 
experience  and  singularly  well  equipped  intellectually 
and  physically  to  introduce  a  new  movement  to  the 
world.  In  clear,  sweet,  ringing  tones,  with  perfect 
accent  and  exquisite  modulation  of  pitch,  she  addressed 
the  large  company  before  her  as  —  "  Dear  friends,  all 
interested  in  human  welfare,  and  all  seeking  to  find  the 
noblest  path  in  life  and  steadfastly  to  walk  therein." 
Instantly  she  was  in  touch  with  every  listener,  and 
though  everybody  expected  to  hear  some  extraordinary 
sentiments  expressed,  the  speaker's  majestic  personality 
and  winning  smile,  coupled  with  her  radiant  health  and 
delightful  though  subdued  vivacity,  brought  the  three 
drawing-rooms  —  all  open  one  into  the  other,  and  all 
crowded  —  figuratively  to  her  feet. 

"  I  may  as  well  read  to  you  the  constitution  of  our 
society,  that  you  may  fully  understand  our  principles," 


84  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

continued  the  graceful  orator,  and  with  this  she 
launched  at  once  into  the  very  heart  of  her  theme,  pref 
acing  her  reading  of  a  synopsis  of  the  Natural  Food 
System  with  three  scripture  texts :  — 

Yet  his  days  shall  be  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.  —  GEN.  vi.  3. 

And  Moses  was  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  old  when  he  died : 
his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.  —  DEUT. 
xxxiv.  7. 

Every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in  all 
things.  —  1  COR.  ix.  25. 

and  then  continued :  — 

"  The  Natural  Food  Society  is  founded  in  the  belief 
that  the  food  of  primeval  man  consisted  of  fruit  and 
nuts  of  sub-tropical  climes,  spontaneously  produced; 
that  on  these  foods  man  was  (and  may  again  become)  at 
least  as  free  from  disease  as  the  animals  are  in  a  state 
of  nature.  Physiologists  unite  in  teaching  that  these 
foods  are  adapted  to  digestion  in  the  main  stomach, 
where,  it  is  contended  by  this  Society,  the  great  bulk 
of  our  food  should  be  digested,  whereas  cereals,  pulses, 
bread,  and  in  fact  all  starch  foods,  are  chiefly  digested 
in  the  intestines,  and  hence,  it  is  maintained,  are  un 
natural  and  disease-inducing  foods,  and  the  chief  cause 
of  the  nervous  prostration  and  the  broken-down  health 
that  abound  on  all  sides. 

"  We  urge  that  all  fruits  in  their  season  —  including 
figs,  dates,  bananas,  prunes,  raisins,  apples,  etc.,  fresh 
and  dried,  each  of  many  varieties  —  be  substituted  for 
bread  and  other  grain  foods  and  starch  vegetables ;  and 
experience  convinces  us  that  this  course  will  be  found 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  85 

by  a  brief  experiment  highly  beneficial,  alike  to  the 
meat-eater  and  to  the  vegetarian. 

"All  persons  about  to  experiment  with  the  non-starch 
food  system  are  urged  at  first  not  to  use  nuts;  but  to  use 
instead  whatever  animal  food  they  have  been  accustomed  to. 
The  central  feature  of  this  system  consists  in  absten 
tion  from  bread,  cereals,  pulses,  and  starchy  vegetables, 
and  in  the  substitution  of  food  fruits. 

"Invalids  and  all  persons  whose  digestive  organs 
have  become  so  weakened  that  the  use  of  so  natural  a 
food  as  fruit  causes  flatulence,  irritation,  or  any  other 
inconvenience,  are  advised  at  first  to  confine  them 
selves  to  a  diet  of  milk,  fish,  or  flesh,  until  such  a  res 
toration  has  been  accomplished  as  will  enable  them 
gradually,  and  with  benefit,  to  add  fruit  to  their  die 
tary.  Until  such  restoration  has  been  accomplished, 
and  until  they  can  properly  digest  and  assimilate  a 
large  proportion  of  fruit  in  their  dietary,  they  are  rec 
ommended  to  use  daily  a  mild  aperient. 

"  All  persons  not  using  fresh  fruits  in  abundance  are 
urged  to  use  a  liberal  amount  of  water  —  preferably 
soft  or  distilled  —  and  to  use  no  other  drink.  A  half- 
pint  or  pint  a  half-hour  or  an  hour  before  meals  is 
recommended ;  if  taken  hot,  all  the  better. 

"  When  I  review  the  various  reasons  for  which  I  be 
lieve  in  a  fruit  diet,  I  find  the  most  potent  to  be  the 
conviction  that  fruit  is  the  only  possible  diet  of  a 
humane  and  truly  civilized  nation.  Until  I  got  hold 
of  the  idea  of  a  fruit  diet,  I  must  confess  that  I  could 
only  give  a  very  mournful  sympathy  to  proposals  of 
'  land  reform, '  etc.  I  know  a  charming  Wiltshire  val- 


86  DASHED  AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

ley  full  of  trees  and  rich  pasture.  There  are  parts  of 
it  from  which  an  extensive  survey  discovers  no  sign  of 
cottage  or  other  work  of  man,  except,  perhaps,  a  hayrick 
here  and  there.  Cattle  and  sheep  nibble  peacefully, 
birds  are  unmolested,  and  squirrels  leap  from  branch  to 
branch.  Now  the  ideal  of  some  people  is  to  see  this 
and  other  similar  spots  —  of  which  in  this  age  of  coal 
and  iron  there  are  none  too  many  —  cut  up  into  potato 
patches,  with  square  cottages  and  pigsties  in  the 
middle.  Melancholy  roosters  innumerable  are  to  vocal 
ize  victoriously,  and  abundant  mangel-wurzels  are  to 
be  hoed  by  future  Joseph  Hodges,  bent  as  now  into  the 
shape  of  an  inverted  L. 

"Many  a  time  when  nearing  a  town  environed  by 
allotments,  with  their  plebeian  potatoes  and  little  eye 
sores  of  sheds,  I  have  felt  what  a  come-down  they  were 
(aesthetically)  from  the  broad  acres  of  waving  wheat 
or  crimson  clover  crops  of  the  old-fashioned  farmer. 
But  better  even  than  these  would  be  the  sight  of  a  flour 
ishing  fruit  land  with  pretty  cottages  peeping  out  amid 
a  profusion  of  roses,  jessamine,  arid  honeysuckle.  For 
it  is  quite  clear  that  machine-harvested  crops  and 
pasture-fields  will  never  require  a  large  population  on 
the  land,  and  thus  we  are  of  necessity  driven  to  fruit 
growing  —  to  the  cultivation  of  trees  and  shrubs  de 
manding  intelligent  labor,  and  converting  the  country 
into  a  fairyland  of  frost  work  in  the  winter,  a  paradise 
of  blossoms  in  the  spring,  and  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a 
joy  for  ever  all  the  year  round.  How  much  pleasanter 
such  a  sight  would  be  from  railway  windows  than 
bare  fields,  with  impudent  boards  stuck  up  at  frequent 


DASHED    AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  87 

intervals  to  proclaim  the  virtues  of  proprietary  pills. 
What  man  has  done  man  may  do,  and  what  man  has 
misdone  man  may,  to  a  very  great  extent,  undo.  The 
operations  of  mining,  manufacture,  etc.,  will  prevent 
some  districts  from  ever  being  particularly  pleasant, 
but  under  natural  conditions  much  of  the  present  out 
put  would  not  be  required.  Multitudes  of  quasi- 
invalids,  whose  roaring  fires  for  warming  and  cooking 
contribute  to  thicken  city  fogs,  would  not  exist.  As 
regards  my  brother,  who  is  no  Spartan,  I  may  say  that 
he  can  live  comfortably  all  the  winter  without  fire  for 
any  purpose  except  lighting,  temporary  handiwork, 
etc.,  and  that  last  season,  with  our  windows  as  wide 
open  as  they  would  go,  we  escaped  our  customary  colds 
for  the  first  time  in  our  lives.  Furthermore,  the  num 
ber  of  appliances,  artificial  foods,  drinks,  etc.,  which 
mean  so  much  work  and  smoke,  and  are  useless  to  a 
natural  liver,  is  really  almost  indefinite. 

"  A  fruit  diet  is  more  radical  than  a  root  diet.  That 
a  man  who  should  be  content  with  a  meal  of  raw  fruit 
and  nuts  should  wish  to  smoke  a  cigar  after  it  is  to  us 
flatly  inconceivable.  At  present  our  vices  date  from 
the  cradle.  Infants  take  milk  through  rubber  tubes, 
and  men  imbibe  smoke  through  wooden  ones,  and,  what 
is  still  worse,  the  mammas  and  young  ladies  raise  no 
objection  to  two  such  improper  habits.  Then  come 
toffy  and  tarts,  for  which  Harrow  boys  get  two  shillings 
a  week  pocket-money.  Thus  sweet-shops,  which  are 
the  public-houses  of  children,  and  public-houses,  which 
are  the  bitter-shops  of  men,  will  have  to  get  themselves 
abolished,  and  I  hope  an  enlightened  generation  will 


88  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

let  down  fine  landscapes  instead  of  ugly  shutters,  when 
they  close  whatever  shops  will  remain.  Another  bene 
ficial  result  of  tree-planting  will  be  the  impossibility  of 
'sport,'  at  least  in  certain  districts.  I  went  over  a 
kennel  the  other  day,  and  was  much  impressed  by  the 
sight  of  sixty  large  dogs,  howling,  malodorous,  and 
devouring  huge  quantities  of  red  horseflesh  with  capital 
Scotch  oatmeal  boiled  up  for  them  in  two  coppers, 
superintended  by  a  ruffian  with  a  long  whip.  If  there 
is  some  reason  for  the  existence  of  a  hunting  instinct 
in  Africa,  I  can  see  none  for  it  in  England. 

"  If  those  who  do  the  Sunday  preaching  would  lay 
a  little  heavier  stress  upon  the  imperative  nature  of 
natural  law,  how  much  more  good  might  be  effected 
than  by  the  re-threshing  of  dogmas  that  have  been  spun 
and  re-spun  as  often  as  Penelope's  web.  More  kind 
severity  and  less  spiritual  soothing-syrup  is  what  the 
people  need.  But  no;  men  in  office  generally,  and 
even  most  of  our  great  writers,  either  ignore  such  sub 
jects,  or  treat  new  discussions  about  them  as  worthy 
only  of  'faddists.'  Carlyle,  with  all  his  keen  percep 
tions,  found  water  '  the  most  destructive  drug  he  had 
met  with, '  took  castor-oil  twice  a  week,  and  blue  pill 
and  brandy  in  proportion. 

"  A  fashionable  young  lady  does  oiot  know  that  it 
would  do  her  more  good  to  walk  when  she  pays  another 
young  daughter  of  fashion  a  morning  call,  than  to  ride 
in  a  fine  carriage  with  two  fine  bearing-reined  horses, 
and  two  fine  liveried  flunkeys.  A  stylish  young  man 
does  not  know  that  it  would  do  him  more  good  to  run 
himself  than  to  watch  horses  running.  What  bishop 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  89 

has  the  courage  to  tell  people  so  to  their  faces?  All 
that  bishops  can  do  nowadays,  as  Emerson  said,  is  to 
'  ask  you  to  take  wine. '  But  so  it  is,  and  I  fear  that 
women  will  continue  to  dress  and  men  to  live  un 
healthily  for  fear  of  Mrs.  Grundy,  for  some  time  to 
come.  Yet  I  believe  the  number  of  men  and  women 
who  desire  to  live  rationally  increases  day  by  day; 
hence  I  hope  for  better  things.  To  bring  these  about, 
a  fruit  diet  will  be  an  important  factor.  Chewing  raw 
beans  and  oats  is  eminently  unpractical,  either  in  our 
present  social  state  or  in  any  future  state.  Chewing 
raw  apples  and  walnuts,  I  find  both  practical  and 
pleasant,  and  thus,  in  spite  of  long-winded  sermons  on 
the  merits  of  starch,  I  believe  a  natural  diet  to  be  the 
thin  end  of  a  very  big  wedge, — a  wedge,  moreover, 
which  when  once  entered  will  open  a  massive  door  into 
the  temple  of  health,  peace,  and  gentleness." 

"How  extremely  outspoken  she  is,"  whispered  Mrs. 
Lispenard-Schermerhorn  to  her  dearest  friend  and  con 
fidante,  Mrs.  Steuveyzante-Feesche,  who  was  seated 
next  to  her;  "she  is  unquestionably  a  splendid  girl, 
but  what  outrageous  sentiments  she  does  express  on 
the  diet  question.  What  should  we,  what  could  we,  do 
to  get  up  a  dinner  if  all  the  world  thought  and  acted 
as  she  does?  And  the  marvel  of  it  is  she  has  been 
everywhere  this  summer,  dined  with  everybody,  and 
never  once  departed  from  her  rule.  Were  I  a  theoso- 
phist  and  a  believer  in  reincarnation,  I  should  declare 
she  was  a  re-embodiment  of  Daniel  or  one  of  his  three 
companions,  whom  the  Bible  tells  us  never  tasted  meat 


90  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

or  wine  though  they  were  entertained  at  a  king's 
palace." 

"  What  she  said  about  the  bishops  was  true,  anyway," 
suggested  a  plain,  tall  spinster  in  gray,  who  was  a  rigid 
Nonconformist  and  made  the  disestablishment  of  the 
English  Church  her  particular  hobby ;  "  I  never  could 
for  the  life  of  me  see  the  good  of  a  church,  supported 
at  vast  expense  to  the  nation,  which  never  concerns 
itself  in  the  least  about  the  welfare  of  our  bodies  while 
it  is  always  prating  to  us  about  abstention  from  vice. 
For  my  part  I  consider  virtue  physiological;  no  man  or 
woman  can  possibly  be  really  clean  in  thought  who  vio 
lates  every  law  of  nature  physically." 

"  My  dear  Miss  Velcherbeck,  I  must  totally  disagree 
with  you,  though  I  trust  I  am  not  a  gourmand,"  broke 
in  the  penetrating  tones  of  Mademoiselle  Susette 
Kurle  Klarke,  who  had  darted  in  for  five  minutes  on  a 
round  of  engagements.  She  was  a  metaphysician  of 
the  most  uncompromising  type,  and  had  been  summoned 
the  night  previous  to  the  bedside  of  the  Hon.  Mrs. 
Moheeneigh-Palankulus,  president  of  six  Hermetic 
Lodges,  and  one  of  the  leading  lights  in  the  "  Frater 
nity  of  the  Ever-Occult,"  the  most  influential  society 
of  mystics  at  that  time  centred  in  London.  "  I  have 
seen  too  much,"  continued  Miss  Klarke,  "of  this  tam 
pering  with  physical  means  to  restore  health,  to  believe 
anything  in  aught  but  pure  SPIRITUAL  SCIENCE;  that 
is  enough  for  me.  In  my  treatments  I  find  the  cause 
of  the  ailment,  and  I  —  or  rather  the  spiritual  intelli 
gences  who  work  with  and  through  me  —  expel  the 
possessing  demon  of  error,  be  it  an  entity  who  is  ob- 


t>ASttED  AGAltfST   THE  ROCK.  91 

sessing  his  victim  or  a  phantasmal  error  contained  in 
the  false  beliefs  of  the  sufferer." 

"Pardon  me,  good  friends,"  mildly  but  firmly  pro 
tested  Miss  Merton ;  "  I  do  not  wish  to  ignore  or  under 
value  the  good  offices  of  spiritual  workers,  and  I  am 
sure  my  dear  teachers,  the  Drs.  Moresden,  would  be 
the  last  to  do  so,  for  they  are  keenly  alive  to  spiritual 
propositions  themselves,  but  I  must  maintain  that 
while  embodied  on  earth  the  human  spirit  is  dependent 
for  expression  upon  the  body,  exactly  as  the  pianist, 
even  though  he  be  phenomenal  as  Paderewski,  is  de 
pendent  on  the  piano.  News  has  just  reached  us  from 
America  that  the  first  serious  break  in  the  musical 
arrangements  at  the  World's  Fair,  now  open  in  Chi 
cago,  was  owing  to  that  eminent  virtuoso  not  being 
permitted  —  at  all  events,  not  without  angry  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  Directors  —  to  use  his  own  particular 
instrument,  which  he  declared  was  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  success  of  his  recitals.  I  claim  that  food  does 
make  a  very  great  difference  in  our  condition  and  that 
my  own  physical  welfare  is  largely,  if  not  entirely, 
due  to  my  present  mode  of  living.  If  this  is  not  so, 
explain  if  you  please,  or  rather  if  you  can,  why  so 
many  really  excellent,  intelligent,  kind-hearted,  pious 
persons  whose  thoughts  are  pure  and  honorable  are  con 
stantly  ailing.  I  agree  with  you,  my  dear  Miss  Klarke, 
and  with  all  who  share  your  views  in  whole  or  in  part, 
that  mental  treatment  is  extremely  beneficial  and  often 
indispensable ;  but  if  we  eat  anything,  why  not  eat  the 
right  things  ?  I  do  not  take  it  that  you  counsel  us  to  eat 
nothing,  on  the  plea  that  we  are  altogether  spiritual ;  you 


92  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOOK. 

and  all  your  friends  eat  something  ;  and  if  you  eat  at  all, 
—  as  eat  you  do, —  you  must  consider  food  a  necessity  in 
our  present  state  of  existence.  I  cannot  see  the  force 
or  logic  of  a  position,  to  me  utterly  untenable,  that  what 
we  eat  makes  no  difference,  when  there  are  multitudes 
of  things  you  would  never  dream  of  eating,  while  the 
special  selections  you  make  for  the  table  are  in  my 
experience  fully  as  unhealthy  and  inappropriate  as  the 
bulk  of  what  you  discard." 

At  this  point  in  the  conversation  a  very  quiet,  demure 
little  woman,  nicknamed  Miss  Mouse  by  almost  every 
one  who  knew  her,  called  attention  to  the  great  benefit 
a  literary  circle  had  derived  from  reading  and  study 
ing  systematically  Dr.  Moresden's  great  work,  How 
Nature  Cures,  which  comprises  an  entirely  new  system 
of  hygiene,  and  explains  in  detail  what  is  in  truth  the 
natural  food  of  the  human  species.  This  extraordinary 
volume,  though  extremely  unorthodox  in  its  arguments 
and  conclusions,  is  written  by  a  man  of  science  and  let 
ters  whose  standing  as  a  physician  is  unsurpassed ;  he 
is  indeed  a  veritable  encyclopaedia  of  psychological  and 
physiological  information,  and  if  there  should  be  any 
thing  he  does  not  know  at  any  time,  his  wife  —  also  an 
M.D.  of  the  first  rank —  is  sure  to  be  thoroughly  famil 
iar  with  it. 

Miss  Alice  Mozier,  alias  Mouse,  was  therefore  quite 
within  bounds  when  she  extolled  this  new  system  of 
hygiene  so  highly,  and  the  word  new  certainly  does 
sound  fascinating  in  the  ears  of  many.  Old  things 
have  become  so  despicably  threadbare,  and  old  medical 
treatment  has  proved  itself  so  wretchedly  inadequate 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  93 

to  cope  with  the  real  or  imaginary  ills  of  ailing  human 
ity,  that  a  novelty,  even  though  it  reach  the  point  of 
human  vivisection  under  the  name  of  extremely  scien 
tific  surgery,  is  cordially  welcomed  by  the  most  delicate 
women,  whose  shattered  nerves  are  consoled  with  the 
serene  hope  of  delightful  spiritual  visions  while  under 
the  influence  of  a  poisonous  anaesthetic  during  the 
period  allotted  to  the  sublime  scientific  work  of  butch 
ering  their  distorted  bodies,  which  would  be  in  no 
condition  to  suggest  the  need  of  operating  were  they 
instructed  from  girlhood  in  the  simple  law  of  health 
and  taught  how  to  dress,  eat,  walk,  and  THINK  in 
accordance  with  the  ethics  of  the  universe. 

Because  the  system  discussed  that  evening  was  said 
to  be  a  new  system,  it  did  really  make  some  impression 
on  several  who  were  present;  so  much  so  that  Lady 
Porchester  expressed  a  great  desire  that  Miss  Merton 
should  visit  her  some  day  privately  and  discuss  the 
whole  matter  with  her  ladyship's  newly  graduated 
medical  grand-nephew,  Dr.  Erastus  Pinchington  de 
Tweeze,  a  young  man  already  distinctly  celebrated  at 
the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  and  the  incumbent  of  a 
Chair  at  Vauxhall  University. 

"  Erastus  is  so  original,  don't  you  know  ?  "  exclaimed 
his  doting  grand-aunt,  who  had  paid  all  his  college 
expenses  and  wild-oat  bills  out  of  her  own  personal 
income  while  he  was  matriculating  at  Shoddersfield ; 
"his  alma  mater  has  simply  heaped  honors  upon  him, 
and  I  may  say  with  reasonable,  grateful  pride  that  he 
has  loaded  the  same  fostering  mother  with  dignity  she 
scarcely  wore  before.  I  was  sorry  the  other  day  that  he 


94  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

and  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  got  along  so  badly.  She,  you 
know,  is  a  Matteist;  'Electro-Homoeopathy'  is  her  dar 
ling  fad ;  Count  Mattei  of  Bologna  is  her  idol,  and  she 
swears  that  his  infinitesimals  in  which  are  fixed,  ac 
cording  to  her  account,  some  mysterious  electric  princi 
ple,  will  cure  everything.  My  nephew,  of  course, 
refuted  her  position  and  scientifically  demonstrated  that 
the  whole  system  of  Matteism  is  an  exploded  fallacy; 
but  I  noticed  he  winced  considerably  when  Mrs.  Spot 
tiswoode,  who  is  proverbially  dauntless  and  uncompro 
mising,  showed  him  well-attested  evidence  that  three 
important  test  cases,  two  of  consumption  and  one  of 
cancer,  had  been  perfectly  cured  by  this  ridiculous 
parody  on  exact  medical  science." 

"  But,  dear  Lady  Porchester,  how  did  he  answer  her  ?  " 
inquired  Miss  Merton  and  Miss  Mozier  in  a  breath. 

"Answer  her,  my  dears?  why,  what  could  he  say? 
He  just  sniffed  the  air  and  petulantly  ejaculated,  'Oh, 
another,  or  rather  three  others  of  those  beastly  coinci 
dences  ;  it's  enough  to  make  the  very  angels  weep  to  see 
how  quackery  fattens  upon  an  alteration  in  the  mode 
of  hysteria  professed  by  the  dupes  of  an  infernal  sen 
sationalism.  ' ' 

"But,"  pursued  the  placid  though  inwardly  mirthful 
Pomona,  "  how  could  such  a  ridiculously  shallow  and 
irascible  exclamation  be  called  an  answer  to  Mrs.  Spot- 
tiswoode's  asseverations,  backed  up  as  they  were  by 
documentary  proof  ?  An  answer,  in  my  judgment,  must 
be  a  genuine  reply,  a  counter-statement  both  logical 
and  coherent,  not  a  bald  denunciation  of  an  opponent's 
claims." 


DASHED  AGAltfST  THE  BOOS.  95 

"Well,  my  dear,  you  are  young  yet,  and  you  will 
probably  soon  learn  that  professional  men  are  as  a  rule 
very  resentful  of  any  encroachment  upon  their  territory. 
My  nephew's  education  cost  many  thousand  pounds, 
and  you  can  hardly  expect  a  hot-headed  young  enthusi 
ast  who  worships  exact  science  to  be  very  lenient  with 
a  woman  who,  as  he  would  phrase  it,  puts  on  airs  and 
sets  herself  up  to  know  as  much,  and  positively  more, 
than  he  does.  I  love  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  myself  and 
I  know  her  to  be  a  good  woman,"  continued  her  lady 
ship,  "but  I  must  admit  she  is  a  little  arrogant  in 
manner  sometimes,  and  she  certainly  did  call  my 
nephew  a  puppy  to  his  face  one  afternoon  in  my 
drawing-room,  and  that  was  certainly  going  a  little  too 
far;  don't  you  think  so?" 

Miss  Merton  slightly  bowed  her  assent. 

"I  immediately  suggested  a  sedative  for  both  of 
them;  but  my  nephew  significantly  tapped  his  finger 
on  his  forehead,  pointed  in  the  direction  of  my  guest, 
and  whispering  in  my  ear,  'Crazy  as  the  Count  him 
self,  but  not  such  a  humbug  wilfully,'  prepared  to 
accomplish  his  exit.  But  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  was  more 
than  he  reckoned  upon ;  I  confess  I  was  almost  terri 
fied, —  dear  Miss  Poyntz  told  me  afterwards  she  trembled 
for  my  fluttering  heart;  well,  Mrs.  Spottiswoode 
placed  herself  against  the  door  and  drawing  herself  up 
to  her  full  height,  —  and  she  is  five  feet  ten  inches,  I 
am  confident;  he  is  only  five  feet  seven  inches, — she 
lectured  him  for  twenty  minutes  in  one  steady  tide  of 
burning  eloquence ;  she  literally  lashed  him,  and  then 
without  a  word  of  conciliation  she  fired  her  parting 


96  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

shot  in  these  identical  words:  'Now,  young  sir,  you 
know  better;  and  if  you  ever  again  in  my  hearing 
repeat  the  libel  you  have  uttered  to-day,  I  shall  hold 
you  responsible  for  criminal  defamation  of  character, 
and  you  will  have  to  answer  to  the  charge  as  best  you 
can.'  Imagine  that  on  a  Thursday  afternoon  in  my 
drawing-room;  and  I  actually  took  Mrs.  Spottiswoode 
out  driving  in  my  carriage  half  an  hour  later  and 
dropped  her  at  the  Oratory  for  Benediction,  picked  her 
up  when  the  service  ended,  brought  her  home  to  dinner 
with  Madame  Discalcelis,  and  fell  asleep  after  dessert 
listening  to  the  two  ladies  sizing  up  my  nephew  to  the 
accompaniment  of  silvery  peals  of  merry  laughter.  It 
didn't  hurt  my  heart  a  bit;  I  was  better  for  it.  And 
now,  my  dear  Miss  Merton,  I  do  want  to  see  how  your 
theory  will  get  along  under  the  fire  of  my  nephew's 
artillery.  You  are  so  much  gentler  than  Mrs.  Spottis 
woode,  and  so  many  years  younger,  that  I  really  do 
think  —  especially  as  he  dotes  on  beautiful  girls  —  that 
you  will  not  find  him  so  very  disagreeable,  and  he 
really  is  a  learned  fellow." 

"I  am  so  confident  that  my  position  is  a  sound  one," 
quietly  remarked  Miss  Merton,  "  that  I  am  willing  to 
state  it  clearly  to  any  one,  but  I  do  not  seek  arguments 
with  self-satisfied  physicians.  What  little  missionary 
work  I  can  do  will  be,  I  trust,  among  those  who  are 
seeking  a  better  way  in  diet,  and  when  I  think  that  I 
may  be  the  means  of  helping  to  release  at  least  a  few 
poor  sufferers  from  chronic  ailments,  I  do  feel  that  my 
work  is  not  unimportant,  though  I  am  yet  but  a  beginner 
in  this  great  undertaking.  The  Food  Question  must 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  97 

be  considered,  and  I  think  settled,  before  there  can  be 
much  progress  made  even  in  morality;  for,  as  Dr.  Mores- 
den  said  the  other  day,  when  controverting  the  asser 
tions  of  a  prominent  leader  in  vegetarian  circles:  'To 
my  apprehension  there  is  no  greater  duty  than  that  of 
keeping  ourselves  in  the  best  condition  of  health.  I 
believe  it  is  highly  immoral  to  be  ill.  I  think  it  can 
be  clearly  shown  that  all  illness  is  the  result  of  some 
disobedience  to  natural  law ;  and  when  such  transgres 
sions  are  knowingly  undertaken,  the  immorality  is  not 
less  in  the  case  of  wrong  feeding  than  in  any  other 
instance. ' ' 

The  result  of  this  evening's  discussion  was  that  Miss 
Mozier  enlisted  fifteen  members  for  a  reading-club,  and 
set  tongues  wagging  in  every  direction  on  the  new  diet 
movement:  that  word  new  was  the  sugar  on  an  other 
wise  bitter  pill,  and  because  of  the  sweet,  the  bitter  was 
at  least  tolerated.  People  were  set  to  thinking,  and  to 
induce  people  to  think  for  themselves  on  any  subject  is 
always  profitable. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  GOSPEL   OF   VIBRATION. 

IT  is  a  week  later,  and  again  it  is  Monday  evening ; 
the  season  is  dying,  for  the  date  is  now  July  17,  and 
there  will  be  only  two  more  soirees  at  Lady  Porchester's 
before  the  house  closes  for  the  summer  and  its  fre 
quenters  are  scattered  far  and  wide, —  wider  this  season 
than  usual ;  for  many  are  going  to  Chicago  to  witness 
the  great  Columbian  Exposition. 

On  this  occasion  food  is  not  the  topic  of  discussion, 
and  the  essayist  is  not  a  young  lady.  By  dint  of  much 
persuasion  the  renowned  mystic  Aldebaran  has  con 
sented  to  write  a  paper  on  the  "Amplitude  of  Force," 
and  trust  the  reading  of  it  to  Mr.  Fitzcraven,  at  a  time 
when  vibration  was  vibrating  in  the  ears  of  every  one, 
and  Mrs.  Margaret  Peeke's  Zenia  the  Vestal  was  on 
everybody's  reading-table. 

Aldebaran  never  appeared  in  public  in  any  capacity 
whatsoever;  one  might  meet  him  at  dinner  at  Lady 
Tomlinson's,  and  occasionally  he  was  seen  at  a  theatre; 
but  though  possessed  of  a  veritable  mine  of  occult 
information,  and  willing,  moreover,  to  impart  instruc- 

98 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  99 

tion  to  any  whom  he  felt  might  profit  by  the  teaching, 
he  could  never  be  induced  to  become  a  "lion,"  or  to 
"star,"  either  on  the  platform  or  in  a  drawing-room. 

Clarence  Fitzcraven  was  a  good  reader,  and  one  who 
enjoyed  "  dress  parade  "  immensely,  and  was  never  more 
in  his  element  than  when  in  faultless  evening  attire, 
—  his  glossy  raven  hair  parted  exactly  in  the  middle 
and  brushed  to  the  extremest  point  of  silkiness,  and  his 
handsome  mustache  curved  in  the  very  latest  bend, — 
he  stood  up  to  read  a  paper  some  one  else  had  written. 
The  essay  lost  nothing  of  its  distinctiveness  by  being 
entrusted  to  his  care ;  and  as  it  was  a  fashionable  occa 
sion,  the  decidedly  tailor-made  appearance  of  the  reader 
served  in  a  certain  way,  to  accommodate  by  dint  of 
appropriate  framing,  the  transcendental  picture  to  the 
realistic  room.  Mr.  Fitzcraven  was  far  above  the  aver 
age  of  critical  journalists ;  he  would  never  have  stooped 
to  one  in  ten  of  their  ordinary  meannesses,  still  he  was 
in  a  degree  supercilious,  and  though  not  by  any  means 
a  scoffer,  he  affected  a  mild  fin  de  sidcle  cynicism,  which 
agreed  very  well  with  his  slightly  conceited  manner, 
and  was  the  one  point  upon  which  his  transparently 
straightforward  sister  always  twitted  him.  The  few 
extempore  sentences  in  which  he  introduced  the  paper 
were  timely  and  well-chosen;  he  modestly  repudiated 
all  knowledge  of  the  subject-matter  of  his  "  esteemed 
friend's  able  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  occult," 
and  then  raising  his  voice  to  an  agreeable  pitch,  in  a 
leisurely,  forcible  manner  gave  utterance  to  the  fol 
lowing  essay,  which  bore  the  title  — 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 


AMPLITUDE  OF  FORCE. 

The  amplitude  of  vibrations  is  directly  increased  or 
diminished  by  increasing  or  diminishing  the  size  or 
number  of  creative  aggregates. 

The  human  EGO,  subject  to  the  forces  of  love  or  hate, 
kindness  or  cruelty,  forgiveness  or  revenge,  is  accord 
ing  to  circumstances  ruled  or  dominated  by  these  forces 
in  proportion  to  their  intensity. 

The  intensity  of  a  force  is  precisely  proportionate  to 
the  number  of  units  vibrating  at  that  particular  pitch. 
For  instance,  let  fear  assail  one  man,  and  according  to 
its  intensity  will  be  the  effect;  but  let  a  crowd  of  men 
experience  fear,  see  the  result  in  the  augmentation  of 
fear,  though  its  source  be  relatively  insignificant.  A 
curtain  in  a  theatre,  for  example,  takes  fire ;  one  or  two 
persons,  cowardly  at  heart,  become  afraid  through  the 
dominance  of  the  purely  animal  instinct  of  bodily 
preservation;  there  is  actually  no  real  danger,  but  these 
two  or  three  persons  are  sufficient  to  arouse  the  unreason 
ing  dread  which  lies  latent  in  every  breast,  with  per 
haps  a  very  few  remarkable  exceptions.  The  fire  burns 
nobody;  but  blind  fear,  which  is  extremely  contagious 
among  people  mutually  sympathetic,  by  reason  of  the 
rapidity  with  which  etheric  waves  transmit  all  feeling, 
occasions  a  terrible  panic,  during  which  many  severe 
accidents  and  many  instances  of  fierce  cruelty  occur,  all 
because  of  this  sympathetic  transfer  of  feeling  starting 
from  one  or  two  augmented  or  intensified  fear-centres, 
each  person  being  a  centre  emanating  the  feeling  of 
fear.  Were  there  no  counteracting  centres  of  influence 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  101 

in  an  audience,  radiating  contrary  feelings,  the  result 
of  a  panic  would  be  the  total  bodily  extinction  of  a 
very  large  percentage  of  the  assembled  multitude. 

Thus  the  human  race  is  immersed  in  forces  whose 
intensity  is  vast  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  EGOS 
adding  each  its  quota  to  the  already  intense  vibration, 
tending  either  to  love  or  hate,  kindness  or  cruelty, 
timidity  or  bravery.  Those  who  intensify  the  force  of 
cruelty  in  the  place  where  they  reside,  maybe  strengthen 
ing  a  murderer's  hand  to  strike  the  deadly  blow  in  a 
distant  land.  This  result  is  brought  about  through  the 
agency  of  etheric  waves,  which  transmit  forces  with 
undiminished  intensity  even  to  uncalculated  distances. 
This  phenomenon  may  be  termed  transympathetic. 

They  who  feel  that  force  called  love,  which  on  higher 
planes  is  known  as  sympathy,  thrill  with  waves  of  force 
which  are  already  strong,  augmenting  them  or  increas 
ing  their  intensity.  They  who  indulge  such  sentiments 
and  encourage  such  forces  may  stop  the  falling  hand  on 
evil  sped. 

In  order  to  protect  ourselves  effectually  from  becom 
ing  the  dispensers  or  propagators  of  deadly  force,  we 
must  consciously  and  deliberately  relate  ourselves  by 
resolute  determination,  to  awaken  within  us  such 
centres  only  as  are  concordantly  sympathetic  with  all 
force  radiating  in  the  interest  of  universal  goodwill, 
thereby  aiding  the  establishment  of  universal  brother 
hood. 

All  ye  who  feel  a  longing  for  a  better  life  or  nobler 
existence  draw  to  yourselves  streams  of  force  which  they 
alone  feel  who  have  attuned  their  bodies  to  the  higher 


102         DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

Harmonies.  For  a  moment  you  feel  as  they  who  dwell 
perpetually  in  communion  with  higher  harmonies,  liv 
ing  immersed  in  that  higher  force;  they  are  the  true 
hierophants,  and  you,  O  neophytes,  struggling  to  attain 
the  goal  which  they  have  reached,  do  not  despair  though 
at  present  you  find  yourselves  unable  to  maintain  this 
high  altitude  for  long  together.  Though  you  fall  many 
times,  be  not  discouraged,  for  as  yet  your  organisms  and 
all  their  centres  of  resonation  are  not  yet  concordant  to 
the  focalized  vibrations  of  the  higher  harmonies ;  being 
still  related  to  the  mass,  you  are  drawn  again  and  again 
into  the  whirlpool  of  the  vibrations  which  affect  the 
mass,  for  these  you  cannot  yet  resist.  But  know  that 
you  can  change  all  this  rapidly  or  slowly  as  your 
purpose  is  steadily  intense  or  vacillating. 

With  the  cessation  of  your  lower  desires  comes  the 
cessation  of  the  action  upon  you  of  the  lower  forces ; 
the  resonating  centres  which  formerly  distributed  this 
force,  no  longer  active,  become  latent  and  are  absorbed 
back  to  an  embryonic  condition. 

Every  man  contains,  developed  or  embryonic,  all 
conditions  of  the  Infinite ;  therefore  no  height  is  too 
great  to  reach.  Impossibility  is  a  meaningless  word  to 
the  man  who  apprehends  the  fathomless  contents  of  his 
own  nature.  Thou  comest  here,  O  man,  with  the  in 
strument  thou  hast  graduated  in  thy  many  past  exist 
ences  ;  how  few  of  thy  chord-settings,  if  thou  art 
numbered  with  the  many,  respond  to  the  higher  har 
monies  !  Universal  unity  or  fraternity  has  been  absorbed 
to  almost  embryonic  conditions  by  the  prevalence  of 
material  self-regard.  Charity  has  been  rendered  almost 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  103 

latent,  that  beautiful  chord-setting  found  even  in  the 
lowest  forms  of  creation  —  LOVE,  the  dominant  chord  of 
the  cycles.  Love  has  an  amplitude  of  action  in  the 
brute  which  may  well  make  the  selfish  man  ashamed, 
but  until  the  crust  of  selfishness  is  broken  through,  the 
beauty  of  love  is  obscured,  and  though  it  exists  all 
about  him,  the  poor  blind  egotist  has  no  eye  to  discern 
it.  The  centres  of  love,  brotherhood,  charity,  voice 
their  music  loud  and  clear,  yet  the  masses  will  not 
listen.  I  do  not  mean  the  immortal  EGO  when  I  say 
man  will  not  listen ;  I  refer  to  the  personality  which  is 
the  resultant  of  all  the  ages  of  action  in  this,  now 
rapidly  closing,  cycle. 

You  who  exist  to-day,  to-morrow  would  exist  no 
longer  in  your  present  personalities  did  you  but  dare 
to  yield  to  these  higher  harmonies.  I  say  YIELD  because 
it  is  a  yielding  process  for  this  personality.  In  a  moment 
your  outer  life  would  end,  and  you,  the  warrior,  would 
enter  peace. 

The  immortal  EGO  is  an  entity  of  which  man  can 
become  thoroughly  conscious  while  here  on  earth,  but 
to  arrive  at  this  consciousness  necessitates  the  entire 
abandonment  of  all  the  petty  considerations  involved 
in  the  transient  and  subordinate  EGO,  which  is  the  only 
self  of  which  the  unenlightened  man  is  conscious.  Let 
him  who  desires  to  reach  this  inner  consciousness  enter 
his  inner  sanctuary,  wherever  that  sanctuary  may  be ;  it 
matters  not  whether  it  be  his  own  chamber,  the  open 
field,  the  mountain  top,  the  seashore,  the  stately  cathe 
dral,  or  the  humble  village  chapel.  Let  him  realize 
fully  the  transient  character  of  his  own  personality  and 


104  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

contrast  therewith  his  eager  longing  to  know  the  im 
mortal.  Let  him  concentrate  his  whole  consciousness 
upon  his  personality,  fully  arousing  all  his  personal 
conditions  a i  a  distinct  individual;  then  with  all  the 
aspiration  of  which  this  personality  is  capable,  let  him 
beseech  of  the  immortal  EGO  —  which  is  eternal  and  does 
not  incarnate,  but  overshadows  all  incarnations,  waiting 
until  one  is  formed  capable  of  illumination,  to  whom  it 
may  reveal  itself  —  to  consider  him  worthy  of  illumina 
tion,  and  according  to  his  preparedness  to  receive 
illumination  will  it  then  be  granted.  He  who  asks 
this,  knows  not  what  he  asks;  for  were  the  grayer 
answered,  life  henceforth  for  such  an  one  would  be  a 
weary  round,  as  Hamlet  says :  "  to-morrow  and  to-morrow 
and  to-morrow  brings  in  this  weary  round  of  life  " ;  for, 
having  seen  the  glory  of  this  immortal  EGO,  all  else 
seems  so  base,  so  commonplace  anl  mean,  so  inglorious, 
that  oftentimes  the  personality  has  utterly  collapsed 
when  thrown  back  from  the  radiant  vision  of  this  glo 
rious  immortal  entity  possessed  by  all  alike,  though 
scarcely  dreamed  of  by  any  save  the  very  few  who, 
discontented  with  the  ignorance  and  emptiness  of 
terrene  existence,  aspire  to  know  the  great  reality  of 
the  supernal.  As  the  incarnations  of  every  entity, 
passing  through  certain  orders  of  experience  through 
numerous  lives,  inevitably  culminate  in  this  moment 
of  conscious  realization  of  the  immortal  entity;  the 
Buddha  says:  "All  shall  reach  the  sunlit  snows." 

You  who  through  your  daily  life  move  on  unthinking, 
not  caring,  inactive,  you  shall  hear  when  your  suppli 
cations  reach  this  high  entity,  "  Lo !  thou  didst  not  even 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  105 

try,  knowing  that  even  thy  failures '  were  acceptable 
to  me." 

The  speaker,  whose  voice  had  become  almost  tender 
at  the  close,  ceased  as  it  seemed  abruptly,  and  a  pro 
found  silence  reigned  unbroken.  Professor  Monteith, 
who  was  present,  was  utterly  lost  in  reverie,  and  a 
subdued  hush  was  over  all. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE   VULTUKES. 

MRS.  EASTLAKE-GOEE  and  her  son  Arthur  had  de 
parted  for  Scotland,  to  spend  three  weeks  on  their  estate 
in  Perthshire  before  taking  ship  for  America.  Madame 
Discalcelis,  having  some  business  with  her  publishers, 
which  required  her  presence  in  London  till  about  the 
eighth  of  August,  had  accepted  Lady  Porchester's 
invitation  to  be  her  guest  from  the  time  the  Gores  de 
parted  till  she  also  should  sail  for  America.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bromleykite  were  also  honored  if  not  honorable 
sharers  of  her  ladyship's  unstinted  bounty;  and  though 
Madame  Discalcelis  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite  could 
scarcely  be  said  to  love  each  other  in  a  very  particular 
sense,  Miss  Poyntz  had  from  the  first  impressed  the 
rather  fastidious  Visalia  as  a  really  nice  woman,  despite 
the  fact  of  her  individuality  being  to  some  extent  pain 
fully  contracted  in  the  corsets  of  conventionalism.  A 
lady  who  wears  dresses  of  almost  Grecian  type,  per 
fectly  comfortable  and  always  graceful, —  one,  moreover, 
whose  beautiful  natural  hair  curls  all  over  her  head  at  its 
own  sweet  pleasure, —  cannot  fail  to  be  a  little  sobered 
at  the  sight  of  very  tight-fitting  garments,  whose  pon- 

106 


DASHED  AGAINST  THB  ROCK.  107 

derosity  is  everlastingly  obtruding  itself,  and  stiff 
braids  of  foreign  hair  piled  severely  upon  an  evidently 
burdened  cranium.  But  such  superficial  differences 
could  never  destroy  friendship  between  two  such  women 
as  Madame  Discalcelis  and  Miss  Poyntz,  who  were  both 
thoroughly  true  at  heart,  though  the  one  was  decidedly 
a  braver  and  stronger  character  than  the  other. 

The  Bromleykites  had  "  dwelt  in  clover  "  under  Lady 
Porchester's  hospitable  roof;  her  ladyship  —  despite 
their  vulgarities,  which  occasionally  grated  upon  her 
raspingly  —  really  admired  them,  and  what  was  more, 
believed  in  them.  Miss  Poyntz  did  not  approve  of 
their  persistent  attempts  to  keep  Lady  Porchester  under 
hypnotic  influence,  and  she  told  them  so.  As  a  result 
of  this  outspokenness  on  her  part  they  began  to  ma- 
iKpAivre  against  her  in  every  dastardly,  deceitful  way 
their  perverted  ingenuity  could  devise,  till  one  day 
there  was  actually  a  scene  between  Lady  Porchester  and 
her  faithful,  doting  companion.  Madame  Discalcelis 
divined  the  situation  immediately  on  her  arrival,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  said  that  she  treated  the  Bromleykites 
civilly  or  uncivilly;  she  simply  ignored  their  presence, 
and  never  permitted  herself  to  be  drawn  into  any  con 
versation  with  or  concerning  them. 

When  Miss  Poyntz,  bathed  in  tears  on  account  of 
the  petulance  of  her  ladyship, —  who  had  just  promised 
them  another  thousand  pounds, —  rushed  into  Madame 
Discalcelis'  presence  to  condole  her  wretchedness,  that 
lady  only  condescended  to  remark :  — 

"It  is  largely  your  own  fault,  my  dear;  you  are 
second  mistress  in  this  establishment,  and  had  you  been 


108  DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK. 

as  firm  as  I  would  have  been  in  your  place,  this  house 
would  never  have  been  polluted  with  their  presence; 
you  are  honest,  but  you  are  weak,  and  moral  cowardice 
is  surely  as  out  of  place  in  a  modern  drawing-room  as 
it  ever  was  in  days  of  old,  when  rack  or  stake  may  have 
loomed  before  the  uncompromising." 

"Oh,  I  know  it!"  sighed  the  desolate  Katherine  be 
tween  her  sobs ;  "  I  have  never  had  your  bravery.  If  I 
had,  I  should  never  have  permitted  thousands  of  things 
I  have  winked  at  for  fear  of  offending  her  ladyship's 
satellites ;  but  we  are  not  at  all  as  strong  as  you  are, 
Madame,  and  the  strong  must  bear  gently  with  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak." 

"  Am  I  strong,  dear  ?  "  responded  Visalia,  now  entirely 
melted;  "do  you  think  because  I  can  subdue  emotion 
that  I  feel  nothing?"  and  then,  lifting  her  beautiful 
clear,  blue  eyes,  and  ga/.ing  steadily  into  the  hazel 
depths  of  her  companion's  orbs  with  a  boundless  wealth 
of  sisterly  tenderness,  she  put  her  arms  round  the  quiv 
ering  frame  of  the  elder  woman  and  comforted  her  as  a 
mother  might  soothe  her  wounded  infant.  There  and 
then  between  these  widely  differing  natures  a  compact 
of  friendship  was  sealed,  never  to  be  broken. 

The  butterfly  touched  the  star  above  and  the  cross 
below  its  wings,  on  the  beautiful  brooch  which  was  the 
only  ornament  Visalia  really  valued.  This  exquisite 
decoration  had  been  presented  to  her  by  the  Queen  of 
Italy,  and  she  attached  to  it  an  almost  mystical  impor 
tance  ;  for  it  seemed  to  her  whenever  that  diamond  but 
terfly  kissed  first  the  golden  cross  and  then  the  seven- 
pointed  star  between  which  it  was  poised,  it  symbolized 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOOK.  109 

victory  through  conquered  sorrow,  and  true  it  was  that 
at  that  instant  the  germ  of  true  nobility  was  stimu 
lated  in  Katherine's  soul  far  beyond  its  ordinary  wont. 
A  strange  Nemesis-like  power  seemed  embodied  in 
Visalia;  wherever  she  went  wrongs  were  righted,  in 
justice  was  rebuked,  the  innocent  were  extricated  from 
the  meshes  of  a  seeming  adverse  destiny;  and,  as  the 
two  ladies  sat  hour  after  hour  that  quiet  summer  after 
noon,  talking  confidentially  of  life,  its  meaning,  and 
its  outlook,  it  seemed  to  both  as  though  they  were 
being  prepared  to  battle  against  an  insidious  enemy 
and  to  conquer  in  some  strange  encounter  with  impal 
pable  shapes  of  darkness. 

The  day  had  been  sultry,  and  as  evening  approached 
the  sky  grew  overcast;  there  was  an  uncanny  feeling 
about  the  house,  and  Lady  Porchester,  far  from  well, 
was  locked  in  her  bedroom  with  Mrs.  Bromleykite  as 
sole  attendant.  Mr.  Bromleykite  was  writing  prescrip 
tions,  on  the  basis  of  a  geocentric  system  of  astrology, 
which  included  all  the  witcheries  and  vagaries  of  six 
teenth  century  superstition,  and  which  he  claimed  had 
been  miraculously  revealed  to  him  by  "T.H.E.M." 

Suddenly  a  storm  broke  over  London,  with  almost 
unexampled  fury ;  the  rain  fell  in  sheets  from  the  over 
burdened  clouds,  which  seemed  to  have  suddenly  come 
from  nowhere;  hail,  wind,  thunder,  all  combined  to 
make  the  weird  occasion  terrible  to  all  whose  nerves 
were  in  the  least  shattered,  or  whose  consciences  at  all 
upbraided  them.  The  servants  were  terrified,  and 
after  the  manner  of  timid  souls  they  huddled  together 
in  the  housekeeper's  room,  telling  each  other  blood- 


110  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

curdling  tales,  presumably  to  keep  their  fainting  hearts 
from  utterly  refusing  to  beat  longer. 

Not  knowing  that  Madame  Discalcelis  and  Miss 
Poyntz  were  in  Lady  Porchester's  boudoir,  preparing 
and  drinking  chocolate  unattended  by  domestics  and 
enjoying  a  lengthy  tete-a-tete  confab,  Mr.  Bromleykite 
deemed  it  a  favorable  opportunity  for  abstracting  from 
Lady  Porchester's  jewel  case,  which  was  in  her 
dressing-room,  all  that  remained  of  the  family  heir 
looms  which  she  had,  even  though  hypnotized,  steadily 
refused  to  let  go  out  of  her  possession.  Mrs.  Bromley- 
kite  had  by  stealth  acquired  the  key,  and  while  her 
ladyship  was  sleeping  it  was  an  easy  task  for  her  faith 
ful  spouse  to  empty  the  casket  of  its  entire  contents. 
This  he  had  no  hesitation  in  doing,  as,  if  the  robbery 
were  detected,  "  occult  agency  "  would  explain  the  dis 
appearance  of  the  gems.  But  as  must  often,  if  not 
ever,  be  the  case,  these  wily  tricksters  had  not  reck 
oned  with  their  host.  A  slight  tremor  passed  through 
the  sensitive  frame  of  Madame  Discalcelis  who,  closing 
her  eyes  for  an  instant,  soon  startled  her  companion  by 
exclaiming:  — 

"  There  is  a  robbery  now  going  on  upstairs  in  this 
house ;  you  and  I  must  see  to  it  that  it  is  rendered  un 
successful."  Then  darting  forward  with  the  agility  of 
a  fawn,  she  bounded  up  the  broad  stairway,  closely  fol 
lowed  by  Miss  Poyntz,  till  she  paused  outside  Lady 
Porchester's  chamber. 

After  a  few  moments  the  door  opened,  and  Mrs. 
Bromleykite  appeared,  casting  furtive  glances  about 
her  in  the  dim  twilight  and  treading  with  cat-like 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  Ill 

stealth  upon  the  heavily  carpeted  landing.  Quick  as 
the  lightning  flash  which  revealed  in  a  sudden  moment 
her  livid  features  she  felt  her  wrists  grasped  by  a  firm 
though  delicate  pair  of  hands,  and  the  voice  of  a  woman 
who  hated  deception  sounded  warningly  in  her  ears. 

"  I  give  you  one  minute  to  deliver  up  those  jewels, 
or  I  will  have  you  immediately  arrested." 

Mrs.  Bromleykite's  expression,  when  thus  brought 
to  bay,  defies  description ;  wrath,  fear,  venom,  coward 
ice,  hatred,  bitter  disappointment,  all  struggled  for  the 
mastery.  At  last  fear  conquered,  and  throwing  herself 
at  her  just  accuser's  feet  she  grovelled,  crawled, 
whined,  whimpered,  begged  for  mercy,  then  throwing 
herself  flat  on  her  face  across  the  landing,  she  fawned 
spaniel-like  at  the  feet  of  the  woman  into  whose  eyes 
she  dared  not  gaze,  and  cringed  for  forgiveness,  maud 
lin  tears  coursing  down  her  sunken,  painted  cheeks  till 
the  melting  rouge  appeared  ghastly  as  a  trickling 
stream  of  blood. 

"  Oh,  my  dearest  lady,  I  implore  you  not  to  expose 
us;  we  did  it  all  for  'T.H.E.M.'  'T.H.E.Y.'  coun 
selled  everything;  we  are  only  their  servants;  oh,  be 
merciful,  be  merciful!  we  are  but  poor  stranded  vul 
tures,  far  from  our  ancestral  nests ;  the  world  is  cruel, 
cold,  pitiless;  we  are  'T.H.E.I.R.'  messengers,  and 
what  can  we  do  but  obey  orders,  though  what  appears 
like  theft  must  land  us  in  an  English  dungeon  ?  " 

"Speak  no  more  of  an  infernal  or  fictitious  'THEY'," 
rang  out  in  vibrating  though  low-toned  accents  the 
voice  of  the  righteously  indignant  exposer  of  such  vile 
artifice;  "confess  your  own  atrocious  crime,  acknowl- 


112  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

edge  your  inexcusable,  unpardonable  perfidy,  and  leave 
this  house  with  your  guilty  accomplice,  never  to  dis 
turb  its  atmosphere  again." 

Mortified,  chagrined  beyond  words,  the  guilty  grov 
eller,  so  unmistakably  detected  in  the  very  act  of  rob 
bery,  now  turned  a  terrified,  imploring  glance  upon  the 
noble  woman  whose  electric  radiation  was  by  this  time 
beginning  to  tell  seriously  upon  the  wretched  impostor, 
whose  sole  desire  in  this  plight  was  to  accomplish 
undetected  flight,  for  like  all  base  and  cowardly 
natures  in  which  generosity  and  mercy  are  at  the  low 
est  ebb,  she  could  not  conceive  it  possible  that  Madame 
Discalcelis  would  do  other  than  openly  expose  her,  and 
even  gloat  publicly  over  her  downfall. 

Such,  however,  was  remoter  than  pole  from  pole  to 
the  thought  of  a  thoroughly  noble-hearted  lady,  who 
never  crushed  even  an  insect  that  was  in  her  power, 
though  she  would  never  permit  a  wrong  to  go  unrighted 
were  it  in  her  power  to  set  the  crooked  straight,  no 
matter  at  what  cost  of  personal  self-sacrifice. 

Hearing  the  lamenting  tones  of  his  agonized  wife 
on  the  landing,  Mr.  Bromleykite  —  who  was  watching 
like  a  sentinel  at  the  foot  of  Lady  Porchester's  bed,  to 
see  that  she  did  not  wake  too  soon  from  the  hypnotic 
trance  into  which  he  had  plunged  her  —  quickly,  but 
noiselessly,  glided  from  the  room,  just  in  time  to  see  his 
partner  in  guilt  yield  into  the  hand  of  Madame  Discal 
celis,  with  Miss  Poyntz  as  witness,  all  the  priceless 
necklaces,  bracelets,  rings,  brooches,  and  other  valuable 
family  jewels  which  she  had  so  recently  abstracted 
from  her  hostess's  jewel  case. 


DASHED   AGAIKST   THE   ROCK.  113 

"Are  you  mad,  Sanskrita?"  hissed  Sanskritikus  in 
the  ear  of  his  crouching,  trembling  spouse. 

"Alas!  we  have  both  been  mad,"  groaned  the  con 
vulsed  victim  of  her  own  unrighteous  deed,  as  she 
turned  her  frightened,  blood-shot  eyes  to  the  frenzied, 
quivering  countenance  of  her  livid  mate ;  "  we  are  both 
arrested  now,  our  game  is  played  out,  we  are  defeated ; 
even  'T.H.E.Y.'  have  deserted  us  in  our  extremity." 

"  If  we  are  not  rescued  in  this  our  hour  of  peril  from 
the  enemy,  I  shall  renounce,  and  even  denounce  the 
Nameless  Ones,"  and  with  an  imprecation,  too  horrible 
to  be  reported,  the  frenzied,  gasping  biped  —  who 
seemed  to  have  lost  for  the  time  the  form  of  man  and 
to  have  been  transfigured  into  a  hideous  ape  —  at 
tempted  an  attack  of  sheer  violence  upon  Madame  Dis- 
calcelis,  who  now  held  the  jewels. 

Once  he  lifted  his  arm  to  seize  them  from  her  grasp, 
but  as  he  touched  the  firm  white  delicate  flesh  of  her 
exquisitely  moulded  hand  a  shock  went  through  his 
body  conveying  the  biting,  stinging  sensation  of  a 
scorching  living  flame,  and  he  lay  prostrate  at  her  feet, 
the  muscles  of  his  mouth  twisted  into  execrable  contor 
tions  and  quivering  as  though  with  nameless  blasphe 
mies.  Was  it  the  lightning  flash  which  felled  him  to 
the  floor, —  just  as  he  fell  a  tremendous  peal  of  thunder 
shook  the  house, —  or  was  it  the  wondrous  inner  force 
which,  unbeknown  to  all  save  very  few,  had  been  for 
several  years  slowly  but  surely  ripening  for  action  in 
the  pure,  healthy  organism  of  the  noble  woman  he  so 
venturesomely  dared  to  molest? 

Seeing  her  husband  fall,  the  now  almost  demented 


114  DASHED  AGAINSO?  THE  ROCK. 

Mrs.  Bromleykite  piteously  wailed  for  mercy,  and  as 
she  poured  out  a  tale  of  such  harrowing  anguish  that 
words  fail  utterly  to  do  it  justice,  Madame  Discalcelis, 
now  perfectly  calm  and  serenely  majestic,  stood  like  an 
angel  above  two  imps  of  darkness,  and  reverently  said: 

"My  poor  sister,  go  and  sin  no  more." 

"What!  are  you  not  going  to  have  us  arrested?" 
fairly  screamed  the  distracted  wretch,  who  in  fancy 
was  already  behind  prison  bars  awaiting  some  awful 
sentence  of  doom ;  "  can  we  after  this  go  back  to  India 
and  no  one  know  that  we  have  been  exposed  ?  Oh,  if 
you  grant  us  this  reprieve,  you  are  more  than  mortal, 
you  are  a  divine  being,  even  like  unto  one  of 
"T.H.E.M."' 

At  the  sound  of  the  last  sentence  Visalia's  face  some 
what  darkened,  for  she  saw  plainly  that  the  terrified 
creature  before  her  was  still  as  much  a  hypocrite  as 
ever,  still  trotting  out  allusions  to  mythical  concoc 
tions  which  furnished  her  with  the  stock  in  trade  of 
her  nefarious  traffic,  and  only  alive  to  the  personal  dis 
tress  and  bitter  humiliation  of  arrest  and  imprisonment 
for  theft. 

"  You  deserve  no  clemency,  but  I  am  not  your  judge ; 
give  back  all  the  articles  you  have  stolen  under  pretext 
of  their  miraculous  transit  to  the  East,  and  leave 
London  to-night  never  to  return,  unless  some  day  you 
should  walk  its  streets  a  lowly  penitent,  seeking  to 
atone  by  blessed  acts  of  virtue  for  foul  deeds  of  crime. 
I  shall  restore  before  another  five  minutes  have  passed 
all  that  you  have  taken  from  my  hostess  this  after 
noon.  I  shall  tell  her  nothing ;  I  have  now  the  key  of 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  115 

her  jewel  case,  wherein  Miss  Poyntz  and  I  will  in 
stantly  replace  the  gems.  Go  now  to  your  room,  pack 
your  trunks,  put  an  address  on  them  where  they  may 
be  forwarded,  leave  no  word  or  line  behind  you,  and 
depart;  be  to  this  house  as  though  you  had  never  en 
tered  it.  I  will  keep  your  secret  unless  you  cross  my 
path  again  and  I  detect  you  in  fresh  perfidy.  May 
God  turn  your  heart,  and  may  you  live  to  bless  man 
kind  wherein  you  have  formerly  cursed  society.  This 
is  all  I  can  or  will  say  to  you  or  do  for  you.  You  have 
the  opportunity  to  lead  a  new  and  honorable  life  if  you 
so  desire,  but  your  destiny  is  entirely  in  your  own 
hands.  God  willeth  not  the  doom  of  any  sinner,  but 
moral  suicide  is  possible  to  those  who  deliberately 
commit  it." 

These  were  the  last  syllables  from  the  lips  of 
Madame  Discalcelis  which  fell  on  the  aching  ears  of 
her  rightful  prisoner,  as  Mrs.  Bromleykite  slowly  rose 
from  her  reptilian  attitude  to  comply  with  what  she 
doubtless  called  "the  inevitability  of  her  wretched 
karma." 

Mr.  Bromleykite  was  in  a  heavy  swoon;  but  as 
Madame  Discalcelis  knew  he  was  in  no  danger  she 
restrained  the  anxious  Katherine,  who  had  been  the 
silent  spectator  of  the  whole  scene,  from  calling  ser 
vants  or  creating  the  least  disturbance.  Entering 
Lady  Porchester's  chamber,  the  two  ladies  found  her 
still  asleep,  resting  placidly,  and  breathing  at  regular 
intervals,  though  not  very  vigorously.  The  first  thing 
to  do  was  to  restore  all  the  trinkets  to  their  positions 
in  the  jewel  box,  —  a  work  not  difficult  to  accomplish 


116  DASHED  AGAINST  0)HE   ROCK. 

and  not  involving  the  expenditure  of  more  than  five 
minutes'  space.  Miss  Poyntz  took  charge  of  the  key, 
—  for  she  was  the  appointed  key-bearer,  —  and  the 
ladies  quietly  descended  to  the  drawing-room,  rang  for 
the  footman,  and  gave  orders  for  a  cab  to  take  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bromleykite  to  the  station. 

Mr.  Bromleykite  was  not  long  in  awaking  from  the 
stupor  into  which  electric  force,  human  or  other,  had 
thrown  him,  and  when  he  awoke  he  was  only  dazed  and 
not  sufficiently  bewildered  to  express  astonishment 
when,  entering  his  chamber,  he  found  his  wife  throw 
ing  all  their  belongings  into  boxes  and  bags  as  quickly 
as  her  palsied  fingers  could  be  made  to  move.  In  less 
than  an  hour  the  guilty  couple  had  turned  their  backs 
on  Grosvenor  Square  and  were  speeding  to  Euston 
Station,  where  they  took  the  earliest  express  for  Liver 
pool,  from  which  port  they  intended  embarking  for 
America,  as  they  had  no  intention  whatever  of  missing 
the  Columbian  Exposition.  They  had  left  one  large 
trunk  behind  them  at  Lady  Porchester's  and  had  labelled 
it  "  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lupus  Geeseplucker,  Adjutant  Hotel, 
Liverpool."  Their  intention  was  to  spend  a  week 
in  that  city  and  in  Manchester  before  sailing  on  the 
Umbria  for  New  York.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bromleykite  had 
disappeared ;  their  very  name  had  vanished,  and  though 
they  had  been  forced  to  restore  the  jewels,  they  had 
three  thousand  pounds  (fifteen  thousand  dollars)  with 
them  as  a  "gift"  from  Lady  Porchester,  who  had 
fulfilled  three  promises,  made  on  three  distinct  occa 
sions  while  in  a  hypnotic  condition,  to  give  to  these 
"holy  probationers"  one  thousand  pounds  to  be  used 


DASHED   AGAINST   TBE  ROCK.  117 

by  them  for  the  establishment  of  theosophical  head 
quarters.  It  is  needless  to  say  the  Theosophical  Soci 
ety  knew  nothing  of  the  bequest  and  never  saw  a 
fraction  of  the  money. 

Seven  o'clock  arrived,  and  dinner  was  announced  as 
usual.  As  the  house-party,  now  reduced  to  three,  sat 
down  to  it,  Lady  Porchester  said  in  a  rather  anxious 
tone : — 

"  Where  are  the  dear  Bromleykites ;  are  they  going 
to  deprive  us  of  their  company  this  evening?" 

"I  believe  they  have  left  London;  they  had  good 
reason  evidently  for  their  departure ;  may  they  not  have 
been  summoned  elsewhere  by  the  unmentionable  ones  ?  " 
suggested  Madame  Discalcelis. 

"Oh  dear,  how  very  tiresome!  but  I  daresay  they 
have  been ;  dear  hearts,  their  life  is  so  self-abnegating, 
they  are  so  truly  altruistic ;  they  almost  hinted  to  me 
the  other  day  that  'T.H.E.Y.'  might  send  for  them." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,  we  must  console  ourselves  in 
their  absence;  and  as  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  is  to  spend 
this  evening  with  us,  I  do  not  think  we  need  be  deso 
late,"  chimed  in  Miss  Poyntz,  who  felt  as  though  a 
crushing  weight  had  just  been  lifted  from  her  shoul 
ders. 

"  We  must  bear  our  loss  with  resignation ;  though, 
sweet  souls !  I  should  like  to  have  kissed  them  good 
bye,  they  were  so  good  to  me,  and  I  have  learned  so 
much  from  them,"  articulated  Lady  Porchester,  almost 
sobbingly. 

Though    the    virtues   of   two   barefaced   scoundrels 


118  DASHED   AGAINST?  THE  ROCK. 

were  sounded  in  trumpet-tones  by  her  ladyship  all 
through  dinner  and  dessert,  neither  Madame  Discalcelis 
nor  Miss  Poyntz  showed  the  slightest  sign  of  knowing 
anything;  and  though  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  arrived  at 
half-past  eight  and  remained  chatting  till  nearly  eleven, 
not  a  syllable  did  either  of  them  whisper  to  even  sug 
gest  that  they  knew  anything  of  why  the  Bromleykites 
had  so  suddenly  and  mysteriously  departed. 

That  evening,  however,  the  diamond  earrings  and 
bracelets  which  on  a  former  occasion  had  been  "trans 
ported  to  India  to  be  blessed  by  'T.H.E.M.'"  seem 
ingly  made  or  completed  the  return  voyage,  for  they 
were  found,  when  the  cloth  was  removed,  close  to  Lady 
Porchester's  plate  on  the  dining-table.  This  incident 
in  itself  was  enough  to  keep  the  conversation  lively  for 
one  evening,  at  any  rate.  Lady  Porchester's  ingenious 
speculative  theories  with  frequent  interjectory  inter 
ruptions  of,  "but  what  do  you  think  about  it?"  first  to 
one  and  then  to  another  of  her  listeners,  provoked  de 
cided  merriment  within,  though  no  one  laughed  openly 
at  the  dear,  credulous  old  dame,  who  was  herself  the 
very  incarnation  of  sincerity,  though  her  gullible  dis 
position  had  often  made  her  the  easy  prey  of  designing 
adventurers.  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  spoke  freely  on  the 
subject  from  her  own  standpoint,  which,  however,  was 
far  from  "  occult " ;  but  though  she  did  not  agree  with 
Lady  Porchester's  conclusions,  she  was  so  truly  polite 
and  graciously  considerate  of  her  feelings  that  the 
worthy  dame  retired  peacefully  to  rest  when  her  visitor 
departed,  to  dream  contentedly  of  "the  dis-  and  re- 
integration  of  matter. " 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ARE  THERE  MARRIAGES  IN   HEAVEN? 

WHEN  at  length  it  could  no  longer  be  concealed  from 
Lady  Porchester  that  the  Bromleykites  had  been  de 
tected  in  deliberate  fraud  and  theft,  and  that  by  her 
own  honored  guest  in  presence  of  her  devoted  com 
panion,  the  kindly  old  lady  heaved  a  sigh  or  two  of 
patient  resignation  to  what  she  deemed  a  pitiful  in 
evitable,  and  then  consoled  herself  with  the  quieting 
assurance  that  the  experience  was  a  necessity  and  the 
consequence  of  her  Karma. 

Karma  is  a  very  wonderful  institution.  As  inter 
preted,  or  misinterpreted,  by  Occidental  aspirants  to 
Oriental  wisdom,  it  is  both  mutable  and  immutable,  and 
can  be  so  peculiarly  adjusted  to  the  favorite  conceits 
of  individual  theorists  that  though  it  is  per  se  un 
changeable,  it  can  be  decidedly  "  interfered  with "  by 
presumptuous  "mental  healers,"  who  by  their  "hyp 
notic"  action  can  cause  this  unchanging  though  change 
able  equation  to  vary  in  a  way  disastrous  to  the  soul- 
growth  of  the  impertinent  ones  and  to  the  even  greater 
detriment  of  the  victims  of  the  "hypnotic  "  art. 

Madame  Discalcelis  had  pretty  thoroughly  investi 
gated  "  theosophy  " ;  she  had  attended  many  meetings 

119 


120  DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

at  the  headquarters  of  the  Theosophical  Society,  had 
enjoyed  a  lengthy  conversation  with  Mrs.  Besant,  and 
had  read  quite  extensively  the  voluminous  literature 
of  the  "  movement."  As  a  result  of  these  investigations 
she  was  convinced,  as  people  say,  that  "there  is  some 
thing  in  it,"  but  that  "something"  she  found  far  from 
unadulterated  truth. 

Too  much  stress  is  laid  by  theosophists  on  Oriental 
doctrines,  and  their  views  of  "Masters"  are  decidedly 
restricted  and  hazy,  with  but  few  exceptions.  Start 
ing  out  with  the  profound  desire  "to  establish  the 
nucleus  of  a  universal  brotherhood,"  they  overlook  the 
fact  that  to  do  this  even  in  theory  requires  that  all 
religions  and  scriptures  be  impartially  examined,  and 
that  Lucretia  Mott's  noble  motto,  TRUTH  FOR  AUTHOR 
ITY,  NOT  AUTHORITY  FOR  TRUTH,  be  adopted  in  prin 
ciple  and  practice  alike.  Theosophists,  being  only 
ordinary  human  entities,  fall  quite  naturally  into  the 
errors  of  other  denominations ;  they  have  their  preju 
dices,  idols,  bugbears,  scarecrows,  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  paraphernalia  —  including  skeletons,  sometimes 
closeted,  but  not  infrequently  paraded  —  which  con 
stitute  the  debris  of  other  organizations ;  they  preach 
altruism,  and  yet  they  practise  no  more  philanthropy 
than  the  rest  of  mankind.  In  a  word,  they  are  just 
about  as  human,  or  as  inhuman,  as  their  neighbors, 
whichever  way  one  likes  to  phrase  the  fact. 

Madame  Discalcelis  was  possessed  with  so  extremely 
high  an  ideal  of  what  theosophy  should  be,  that  she 
rather  shrank  from  it  as  she  found  it,  particularly  as 
its  claim  for  superiority  to  other  systems  was  based  on 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  121 

nothing  less  than  the  stupendous  assumption  that  it 
was  engineered  and  sustained  by  no  less  a  power  than 
that  of  Adepts,  whose  control  over  all  earthly  passions 
and  whose  knowledge  of  universal  law  is  so  complete 
that  there  is  practically  no  limit  to  their  wisdom  and 
possible  achievements. 

Lady  Porchester  had  been  for  many  years  a  Spiritual 
ist,  and  —  though  Miss  Poyntz  would  never  let  it  be 
publicly  known  —  she  was  in  private  an  excellent 
clairvoyante,  and  frequent  indeed  had  been  the  mes 
sages  from  the  unseen  state  that  had  been  given  through 
her  pliant  instrumentality.  After  the  departure  of  the 
Bromleykites,  Lady  Porchester  began  to  reflect  a  lit 
tle  upon  the  curious  doctrines  concerning  "babbling 
shells,"  "  discarded  astrals,"  and  many  other  concoctions 
of  orientalized  hysteria,  which  had  been  frequent  topics 
of  conversation  of  late ;  she  now  decided  that  though 
Spiritualism  had  its  drawbacks,  and  clairvoyant  predic 
tions  of  coming  events  were  not  always  fulfilled,  there 
was  —  notwithstanding  these  imperfections  —  a  solid 
basis  of  consolation  and  instruction  in  the  faith  of  the 
earnest  Spiritualist  which  nothing  could  successfully 
overturn. 

TELEPATHY  greatly  interested  many  of  Lady  Por- 
chester's  friends,  to  whom  the  name  rather  than  the 
idea  of  Spiritualism  was  offensive;  these  were  loyal 
members  of  the  English  Church,  who  interpreted  its 
doctrines  in  a  peculiar!}'  elastic  manner,  and  found 
nothing  in  the  three  creeds  and  thirty-nine  articles  to 
interfere  with  their  study  of  psychical  science  as  mem 
bers  of  the  highly  reputable  body  known  as  the  Psychi 
cal  Research  Society  of  Great  Britain. 


122  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

In  presence  of  strangers  Miss  Poyntz  was  usually 
reticent  as  to  her  "  mediumistic  "  gifts,  so  much  so  that 
she  always  seemed  pained  and  embarrassed  if  any  one 
ventured  to  call  attention  to  her  possessing  any  such; 
but  since  the  Bromleykite  exposure  and  the  constant 
strength  derived  from  association  with  her  new  friend, 
she  opened  like  a  flower  in  the  sunshine  under  the 
genial  influence  of  true  friendly  appreciation. 

It  was  a  beautiful  evening  in  August,  after  the 
season  was  entirely  over,  and  only  a  very  few  of  the 
6lite  were  left  in  town,  that  the  Eastlake-Gores,  hav 
ing  returned  from  Scotland  for  a  flying  visit  to  London 
previous  to  their  visit  to  the  United  States,  called  with 
Professor  Monteith,  who  by  this  time  was  quite  inti 
mate  in  the  family,  to  pay  a  farewell  visit  at  Lady 
Porchester's.  Madame  Discalcelis  was  to  start  for 
Liverpool  with  Mrs.  Gore  the  next  morning;  her  trunks 
were  already  packed,  and  a  feeling  of  soberness  which 
invariably  precedes  parting  hung  over  the  little  party, 
as  they  chatted  reminiscently  and  then  turned  their 
conversation  to  the  great  Columbian  Exposition  which 
some  of  them  were  about  to  visit.  More  than  three 
months  of  the  great  Fair's  short  but  brilliant  existence 
had  already  passed,  and  those  who  were  bent  on  seeing 
its  numberless  wonders  felt  they  must  lose  no  time  in 
speeding  to  the  scene  of  so  much  human  ingenuity  and 
activity. 

Professor  Monteith  had  derived  great  strength  and 
much  light  from  his  interviews  with  the  mystical  Alde- 
baran ;  but  though  he  regarded  that  marvellous  young 
savant  as  peerless  in  his  way,  he  was  still  far  from 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  123 

satisfied  that  there  was,  after  all,  any  direct  proof  of 
man's  individual  immortality  forthcoming  through  de 
votion  to  a  study  of  even  such  profound  science  as 
Aldebaran  had  introduced  to  him.  There  was,  in  spite 
of  all,  a  yearning  wistfulness  coupled  with  a  corroding 
scepticism  in  his  entire  nature.  Sometimes  the  angel 
of  faith  seemed  to  triumph  for  a  span,  then  again  would 
the  demon  of  doubt  whisper  in  his  aching  ears  the  old 
word  hallucination^  till  he  often  felt  as  though  the  reel 
ing  of  his  tormented  brain  must  land  him  sooner  or 
later  in  the  madhouse.  But  though  occasionally  his 
case  seemed  to  himself  desperate,  whenever  a  climax 
was  reached,  the  crisis  was  safely  passed;  for  in  the 
moment  of  direst  extremity  the  voice  and  often  the 
form  of  his  beloved  one  would  come  before  him  in  all 
the  serene  beauty  of  angelic  loveliness,  and  it  seemed 
at  such  times  as  though  the  aromatic  breath  from  Sicil 
ian  lemon  groves  was  close  to  his  very  nostrils  as  the 
presence  of  his  unseen  guardian  was  so  palpably  at 
hand. 

Quite  a  discussion  was  carried  on  between  the 
professor  and  Madame  Discalcelis  on  the  question  of 
soul  mates  or  spiritual  affinities.  The  professor  longed 
to  believe  with  the  lady  that  sex  is  eternal  and  that 
there  are  marriages  in  heaven,  but  he  had  of  late  been 
so  much  accustomed  to  the  cold,  self-satisfied  theory  of 
some  occultists,  that  every  individuality  must  look  with 
in  itself  and  find  completeness  in  its  own  duality,  that 
he  could  scarcely  do  more  than  politely  smile,  shake 
his  head,  and  sigh  dissidently  as  the  fair  exponent  of 
a  brighter  creed  assured  him  that  the  theory  was  all  a 


124         DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

fallacy  to  which  he  had  listened,  and  that  there  was  no 
sweetness  or  light,  to  use  Matthew  Arnold's  favorite 
adjectives,  in  a  doctrine  which  makes  introspection 
instead  of  extrospectiou  the  high  road  to  the  heights  of 
sanctity. 

"Every  soul  is  dual,"  said  Madame  Discalcelis, 
warming  to  the  subject  as  she  proceeded,  till  her  beau 
tiful,  expressive  countenance  gleamed  with  more  than 
earthly  radiance;  "your  own  undying  love  for  the  com 
panion  of  your  youth,  the  heroine  of  your  holiest 
dreams,  the  central  figure  in  all  your  visions,  attests 
the  truth  of  my  asseveration.  Let  your  heart  speak, 
crush  no  longer  the  dictates  of  your  spirit,  and  you  will 
know,  as  I  know,  that  whatever  affection  ennobles  us 
on  earth  will,  when  purified  from  the  last  iota  of  sen 
suous  dross,  shine  forth  in  immortal  splendor  in  the 
realm  of  eternal  joy." 

"But,"  remonstrated  the  other,  "you  profess  to 
accept  the  Gospels;  to  you  the  teachings  of  the  Christ 
are  divine.  How  do  you  reconcile  your  assertions  with 
the  gospel  words  attributed  to  this  Christ,  'In  the 
resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar 
riage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  '  ?  " 

"I  know  that  passage  is  a  stumbling-block  to  many," 
Visalia  responded  frankly,  "  but  to  me  it  surely  means 
that  the  atrocious  farce  of  re-marriage  several  times  on 
the  plea  of  widowhood  could  not  be  for  an  instant  com 
pared  with  the  glorious  reality  of  marriage  in  the  celes 
tial  state  among  the  beatified.  One  woman  may  become 
the  wife  of  seven  men  in  turn,  if  six  successive  hus 
bands  drop  the  mortal  coil.  Are  such  repeated  unions 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  125 

heavenly?  Do  such  marriages  as  those  compare  with 
angelic  bliss  ?  " 

"  I  readily  follow  you  so  far  as  your  detestation  of 
several  marriage  unions  is  concerned,  but  do  not  the 
evangelists  distinctly  declare  that  marriage  of  any  kind 
is  impossible  in  the  celestial  spheres?  What  always 
appears  incomprehensible  to  me  is  that  women  like 
yourself,  who  are  evidently  sincere  and  who  entertain 
and  freely  express  ideas  of  your  own  on  religious  sub 
jects  which,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  no  church  indorses, 
should  so  persistently  cling  to  the  teachings  of  a 
prophet,  many  of  whose  recorded  utterances  are  plainly 
at  variance  with  your  own  convictions,  and  whose  pro 
fessed  followers  unsparingly  denounce  your  views  as 
awfully  heretical  if  not  downright  blasphemous." 

"My  dear  professor,"  retorted  Madame  Discalcelis, 
in  her  characteristically  mild  but  penetrating  way,  "  I 
care  nothing  for  the  barren  say-so  of  any  man,  woman, 
or  company  of  men  and  women,  who  seek  to  foist  their 
mere  opinions  on  the  world  as  gospel  truth.  I  do, 
however,  behold  in  the  evangels,  as  you  rightly  judge, 
a  record  —  not  unmutilated  —  of  the  supremest  truth 
ever  revealed  to  the  family  of  mankind.  There  are  no 
teachings  extant  —  I  care  not  whether  you  con  the 
pages  of  the  Vedas,  Zend-Avesta,  or  any  other  collec 
tion  of  ancient  documents  venerated  by  millions  of  the 
human  race  —  which  contain  anything  like  so  clear  and 
succinct  a  statement  of  the  way  of  life  as  can  be  found 
in  the  four  Gospels  of  the  New  Testament;  and  as  to 
the  views  on  marriage  outlined  therein,  I  must  become 
familiar  with  the  idea  of  angels  entertained  by  contem- 


126  DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

poraries  before  an  interpretation  of  the  phrase  'they  are 
as  the  angels  '  can  be  accurately  or  rationally  offered. 
Originality  is  by  no  means  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
all  the  sayings  of  Him  who  declared  when  on  trial 
before  Pilate,  'I  came  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth; 
whosoever  loveth  the  truth  heareth  my  voice.'  Mark 
you,  witness  to  the  truth,  not  to  new  doctrine;  truth  is 
ancient  as  God,  unchanging  as  the  law  of  the  Eternal ; 
therefore,  when  the  Great  Teacher  says  that  he  wit 
nesses  to  truth,  he  does  not  thereby  deny  aught  that  is 
true  in  any  earlier  revelation.  'In  my  father's  house 
are  many  mansions;  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told 
you,"1  is  a  sentence  the  obvious  construction  of  which 
points  definitely  to  an  indorsement  of  a  previous  reve 
lation  ;  so  do  I  take  it  that  the  sublime  Grecian  idea  of 
the  soul's  duality  embodied  in  the  classics  of  Plato 
receives  indorsement  at  the  hand  of  the  Light  of  the 
World.  You  remember,  of  course,  what  this  distin 
guished  Grecian  sage  said  concerning  the  source  of  the 
world-wide  attraction  between  the  sexes.  His  theory 
was  that  one  soul  was  divided  into  two  parts  during 
terrestrial  expression,  and  that  one  portion  of  the  soul 
was  ever  seeking  to  reunite  itself  with  its  alter  ego.  I  ( 
believe  in  the  inviolable  sanctity  of  true  marriage,  I 
indorse  the  good  old  saying,  'marriages  are  made  in 
heaven ' ;  but  by  true  marriages  I  mean  such  unions  as 
stand  the  test  of  all  time  and  all  trial,  and  which  are 
not  'until  death  parts,'  but  beyond  the  grave,  even  into 
eternity." 

While  she  was  speaking,  the  face  of  the  calm  but  im 
passioned  pleader  for  spiritual  realities  became  so  ex- 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.          127 

quisitely  illuminated  that  all  eyes  were  riveted  upon 
her.  There  seemed  a  subtle,  all-pervasive  spell  which 
hung  about  her  words  and  glorified  her  presence,  and 
as  she  ceased  speaking,  it  seemed  as  though  some  fairy 
angel  had  visited  the  spot  and  inspired  the  gifted 
authoress  to  speak,  as  she  often  wrote,  under  the  magic 
spell  of  some  divine  enhancement  which  lifted  her  to 
supernormal  heights  of  quite  unusual  eloquence. 

Lady  Porchester,  who  loved  pathetic  ballads  and 
always  wanted  at  least  three  songs  in  succession,  liter 
ally  implored  Visalia  to  sing  for  them.  As  it  was  her 
last  evening  in  London,  she  readily  complied,  and  in  a 
soft,  clear,  expressive  voice,  to  her  own  exquisite  ac 
companiment,  she  gave,  at  her  hostess's  urgent  request, 
"Darby  and  Joan,"  "Gretna  Green,  "and  "Some  Day." 
Between  her  second  and  third  numbers  she  played  an 
accompaniment  to  "My  Queen,"  which  Mr.  Gore  ren 
dered  superbly,  reminding  those  who  had  heard  Sims 
Reeves  in  his  best  days  of  that  wonderful  tenor's  un 
equalled  rendering  of  that  gem  of  Blumenthal's.  As 
song  followed  song,  each  expressing  similar  pure  senti 
ment, —  though  each  in  a  different  way,  —  Mrs.  Gore 
whispered  to  Lady  Porchester :  — 

"  If  my  son  should  find  his  queen  in  that  good  woman, 
I  should  be  more  than  satisfied.  She  is  the  only  person 
I  have  ever  met  whom  I  could  welcome  as  a  daughter 
without  a  single  pang  or  shadow  of  reluctance." 

They  formed  a  magnificent  couple.  One  contrasted 
with  the  other  in  appearance  as  perfectly  as  their  splen 
did  voices  reflected  glory  each  on  the  other;  and  when 
at  length  they  sang  a  duet,  —  Gounod's  "Maying,"  — 


128  DASHED    AGAINST    THE   KOCK. 

there  seemed  so  complete  a  blending  of  soul  as  well  as 
tone  in  the  subtle  harmony  of  the  great  French  com 
poser  so  recently  called  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  great 
majority,  that  Lady  Porchester  herself  felt  that,  after 
all,  the  charming  Visalia  was  better  adapted  to  the 
noble  Arthur  than  even  her  own  priceless  Katherine, 
and  then,  the  dear  old  lady  seemed  to  reflect,  with  per 
haps  the  slightest  shade  of  self-thoughtfulness,  which 
even  the  most  benevolent  among  us  have  not  entirely 
overcome,  "  if  Katherine  were  to  marry,  what  should  I 
do  without  her  ?  " 

It  had  always  been  a  matter  of  comment  and  wonder 
that  Madame  Discalcelis  (properly  Signorina)  always 
adopted  the  mature  Madame  in  preference  to  the  more 
appropriate  Mademoiselle,  and  it  was  known  that  when 
certain  gentlemen  of  her  acquaintance  had  discovered 
that  she  was  both  single  and  unpledged,  and  they  had 
in  rapid  succession  offered  her  their  hearts  and  fortunes, 
—  several  were  very  wealthy  and  distinguished,  —  she 
had  invariably  made  but  one  answer:  "If  ever  I  marry, 
it  will  be  in  answer  to  the  call  of  Heaven,  and  that  call 
comes  not  when  you  address  me."  People  thought  her 
odd,  lacking  in  affection,  devoted  to  curious  theories 
of  mysticism,  etc.,  etc.;  they  talked  about  her  with 
bated  breath,  as  though  her  refusal  of  matrimonial  offers 
from  men  she  could  not  truly  love  was  an  evidence  of 
partial  insanity  or  that  it  suggested  some  uncanny 
witchcraft  connected  with  her.  But  she  cared  little,  if 
at  all,  for  impertinent  comments,  and  went  on  the  even 
tenor  of  her  way  without  so  much  as  a  thought  bestowed 
upon  the  gossips  who  sought  to  attribute  what  would 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  129 

be  in  their  eyes  a  sufficient  reason  for  "her  most  ex 
traordinary  conduct." 

On  one  occasion  Mrs.  Florence  Nimblecat  —  a  young 
widow,  obliged  to  earn  her  living  by  interviewing 
celebrities  for  the  Westminster  Codfisher  —  declared  it 
was  positively  wicked  of  any  woman  to  refuse  such 
eligible  men ;  had  any  one  of  them  proposed  to  her,  she 
would  have  literally  sprung  to  him  and  sealed  the 
compact  there  and  then  with  tears  and  kisses.  Mrs. 
Nimblecat  owed  Madame  Discalcelis  a  decided  grudge, 
and  in  some  stealthy  manner  she  hoped  some  day  to  be 
able  to  pay  it  off  with  compound  interest.  Inter 
viewers  are  usually  vulgar  and  always  intrusive;  not 
content  with  seeking  to  elicit  facts  concerning  one's 
public  efforts,  they  pry  consciencelessly  into  the  most 
private  matters  of  a  human  life.  Veiled  skeletons  are 
their  greatest  perquisites,  and  to  reveal  a  carefully 
guarded  secret,  especially  if  it  be  of  a  delicate  or  pain 
ful  character,  they  will  sail  through  seas  of  scandal, 
and  gloat  over  the  suffering  they  cause  to  natures  more 
sensitive  than  their  own.  The  private  life  of  the  fair 
Visalia  was  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,  but  that  mattered 
not  to  Mrs.  Nimblecat ;  if  she  could  not  sensationalize 
innocently,  then  she  must  —  to  butter  her  bread  of 
course  —  invent  scandal,  and  on  one  occasion,  after 
having  called  sixteen  times  and  been  refused,  she  crept 
into  the  drawing-room  one  Monday  afternoon  unan 
nounced,  at  the  heels  of  Mrs.  Montley  Moorhouse,  —  a 
portly  dowager  with  flowing  skirts, —  and  sidling  up  to 
her  intended  victim,  said  in  a  stage  whisper :  — 

"  As  a  friend  I  have  come  to  warn  you,  madame,  that 


130  DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

Askalon  will  be  utterly  annihilated  by  Mr.  Sneakswell 
Pfhule,  the  eminent  critic  for  the  Belgravia  Tattler, 
unless  you  give  me  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours 
a  personal  sketch  of  your  private  life,  accompanied  by 
your  portrait " ;  then  in  wheedling  tone  and  with  an 
assumed  mirthfulness,  "You  may  tell  me  all  the  lies 
you  please ;  that  makes  no  difference  whatever :  we  get 
paid  as  much,  and  it  sells  the  paper  just  as  readily;  and 
as  to  your  portrait,  you  may  give  me  anybody  else's  if 
you  prefer,  so  long  as  I  can  say  that  it  is  the  very 
latest  of  yourself.  And,  by  the  way,  as  to  the  book 
review,  you  may  write  it  yourself,  and  Mr.  Pfhule  will 
sign  his  name  to  it  for  ten  pounds  if  it  is  a  long  arti 
cle  ;  if  you  write  only  a  short  notice,  he  will  put  you 
through  for  half  that  amount ;  and  as  for  myself,  I  leave 
it  to  your  generosity." 

"Tell  Mr.  Pfhule,"  replied  the  authoress,  unmoved 
by  this  brazen,  dishonest  effrontery,  "  that  his  condem 
nation  of  my  book  might  be  a  compliment;  a  liar's  in 
dorsement  of  anything  is  a  deliberate  insult."  With 
which  retort  she  turned  away  from  Mrs.  Nimblecat 
abruptly  and  entered  into  animated  conversation  with 
a  young  debutante  who  had  been  cruelly  and  grossly 
insulted  by  the  notorious  Pfhule  in  the  latest  Tattler, 
because  she  would  not  purchase  criticisms  from  a  man 
who  received  twenty  pounds  a  week  to  report  the  pro 
ceedings  at  the  places  whither  his  employer  sent  him. 

Mr.  Gore,  hearing  of  the  incident,  had  straightway 
fallen  truly  and  deeply  in  love  with  the  one  literary 
woman  whom  he  had  found  utterly  fearless  and  entirely 
conscientious,  and  she  had  almost  reciprocated  his 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK.  131 

emotion  when  she  discovered  that  he  alone  of  all  the 
reviewers  of  her  acquaintance  would  never  accept  a 
bribe,  never  say  a  heartless  word  of  or  to  a  struggling 
aspirant  to  fame,  and  never  bid  for  mediocrity's 
approval. 

A  soft  spell,  as  though  the  wings  of  the  legendary 
Peace  Angel  were  outspread  over  the  company,  seemed 
to  brood  in  silence  over  all.  Lady  Porchester  softly 
murmured  as  she  saw  the  old,  familiar,  far-away, 
dreamy  look  in  Katherine's  eyes,  "  We  may  now  expect 
a  word  of  counsel."  Then  gently  and  quietly,  but 
with  intense  earnestness,  there  came  from  the  lips  of 
the  partially  entranced  sensitive  the  words :  — 

"  Marriages  are  made  in  heaven ;  when  they  are 
made  is  a  divine  secret  pertaining  to  a  cycle  in  eternity 
to  which  our  feeble  recollection  while  embodied  here 
may  not  revert.  Here  or  elsewhere,  every  spirit  will 
find  and  be  blissfully  united  with  its  counterpart; 
many  a  time  in  the  lives  of  those  who  pass  their  days 
unmated  here,  there  comes  a  sweet  conviction  that  in 
the  happy  Elsewhere  they  are  already  one  with  the 
other.  Conscious  at  times  of  such  true  union,  even 
when  in  their  ordinary  waking  state,  are  keenly  sensi 
tive  lives  on  earth,  and  when  such  consciousness  in 
fills  and  pervades  the  nature  of  any  man  or  woman, 
then  does  selfishness  yield  to  selflessness,  as  the  divine 
passion  of  spiritual  affection  causes  the  whole  being  to 
dilate  with  love  to  all  humanity.  Wrapped  in  the 
mantle  of  self-satisfaction,  centred  in  one's  own  imme 
diate  affairs,  given  to  incessant  introspection  only,  the 
spirit  of  man  or  woman  fails  to  expand.  God  has 


132  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

ordained  the  dual  state;  spiritual  unions  are  eternal, 
and  happy  indeed  are  they  in  any  state,  in  any  period, 
who  discover  this  truth  and  whose  lives  are  conse 
quently  illumined  with  a  bliss  and  satisfaction  other 
wise  impossible  of  realization." 

As  the  inspired  speaker  ceased,  there  was  a  gentle 
rustle  as  of  pinions  of  light,  a  soft  murmur  as  of  sweet, 
distant  music  floating  mystically  across  the  air,  and 
suddenly,  }ret  without  the  slightest  shock  or  start,  Pro 
fessor  Monteith  exclaimed,  a  smile  of  rapture  illumin 
ing  his  ordinarily  depressed  countenance :  — 

"  Yes,  it  is  true ;  this  is  now  the  third  time  within 
two  months  that  I  have  actually  seen  her." 

An  hour  or  more  glided  by  in  sweet,  restful  silence ; 
the  professor  occasionally  ejaculated  an  expression 
such  as,  "Yes,  it  is  true;  I  cannot  be  mistaken."  No 
one  wished  to  talk  or  seemed  disposed  to  move,  till  the 
clock  broke  the  stillness  by  sounding  the  hour  of  eleven. 
Then,  guided  by  the  unspoken  thought  of  some  one 
seen  or  unseen,  Madame  Discalcelis  and  Mr.  Eastlake- 
Gore  went  together  to  the  piano  and  sang,  as  only  ex 
quisitely  natural  singers  can  sing,  duets  from  the  Italian 
composers,  those  rare  masters  of  melody  who  more  than 
the  musicians  of  any  other  clime  know  how  to  express 
in  perfect  musical  forms  the  profoundest  emotions  of 
the  human  heart.  The  last  song  was  by  Visalia  alone. 
A  copy  of  Love  Letters  of  a  Violinist  by  Eric  Mackay  — 
a  very  favorite  book  of  poems  in  the  Porchester  house 
hold  —  was  lying  near  the  piano,  and  the  fair  songstress 
taking  it  up,  as  it  appeared  thoughtlessly,  improvised 
an  air  which  exactly  suited  the  tender,  graceful  senti- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  133 

ment  of  one  of  the  Italian  gems  in  that  beautiful  col 
lection  of  poems  —  nearly  all  in  the  English  language 
—  which  lend  themselves  instantly  to  the  most  exalted 
feelings  of  a  refined  and  sympathetic  spirit.  As  the 
singer  ceased  her  singing,  the  book  fell  to  the  floor. 
Arthur  stooped  to  pick  it  up  and  replace  it  on  the 
piano ;  as  he  bent  to  reach  the  volume  his  hair  lightly 
touched  the  lady's  hand.  In  that  momentary  contact 
the  infallible  indicator  within  her  unusually  unfolded 
being  told  her  as  words  could  never  have  told  that  the 
noble,  knightly  gentleman,  whose  irreproachable  honor 
was  greater  than  all  his  other  charms  of  character  and 
person,  was  the  one  in  all'  the  earth  to  whom  she  could 
link  her  life  and  destiny  without  one  thought  of  mis 
giving  or  fear.  The  recognition  though  silent  was 
instant  and  complete. 

Professor  Monteith  was  positively  merry  over  choco 
late;  the  iron  which  had  for  so  long  dwelt  in  his  soul 
seemed  now  to  have  been  extracted,  and  for  once  he  was 
bright  and  happy  as  a  healthy  boy  home  for  holidays 
after  his  examinations  have  been  passed  with  honor. 

There  is  always  a  tinge  of  sadness  at  a  parting  hour 
when  some  are  going  across  the  briny  deep;  but  so  full 
of  spiritual  light  and  consolation  was  the  very  apart 
ment,  that  good-bye  only  implied  God  bless  you,  and 
farewell  signified  only,  May  you  ever  fare  on  the  best 
that  Heaven  affords. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

LADY  HUNTLEY'S  REMINISCENCES  AND  A  TELEPATHIC 
INCIDENT. 

WITH  much  genuine  regret  at  parting  from  so  true 
and  amiable  a  friend,  Lady  Porehester  and  Miss  Poyntz 
bade  a  tearful  farewell  to  Madame  Discalcelis  at  Euston 
Station  the  day  following,  at  which  terminus  she  joined 
the  Eastlake-Gores  and  Professor  Monteith,  who  were  on 
their  way  to  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  company. 

Returning  home  after  bidding  adieu  to  their  beloved 
guest,  the  two  ladies  were  not  sorry  to  find  a  visitor 
from  Brighton,  Lady  Clementina  Huntley,  ready  to 
regale  them  in  her  always  entertaining  manner  with 
some  of  her  most  recent  spiritual  experiences. 

Lady  Huntley  was  a  queenly  woman  in  style  and 
bearing,  and  one,  moreover,  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  command  a  regiment  of  domestics  before  her  mar 
riage  to  Lord  Colin  Huntley,  at  her  father's  beautiful 
castle  in  Scotland,  where  her  youth  had  been  most 
happily  spent.  Since  their  marriage  Lord  and  Lady 
Huntley  had  travelled  three  quarters  over  the  world; 
they  had  been  in  Egypt,  India,  Syria,  Turkey,  and  no 

134 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROC  1C.  135 

one  knew  how  many  more  historic  lands,  and  had  re 
turned  to  England  with  mental  as  well  as  physical 
trophies  of  their  extended  voyagings  by  sea  and  land 
in  quest  of  health,  pleasure,  and  information.  During 
the  last  two  or  three  years  Lady  Huntley  had  been  the 
recipient  of  some  very  striking  evidences  of  the  action 
upon  or  within  herself  of  a  power  which  impelled  her 
to  write  poems  and  hymns  of  great  force  and  rare 
beauty,  and  as  Lady  Porchester  was  always  eager  for 
the  latest  and  the  fullest  tidings  which  could  be  brought 
to  her  of  all  phases  of  psychical  experience,  Lady 
Huntley  knew  she  could  always  find  in  her  old  friend 
and  confidante  an  appreciative  listener. 

Lunch  was  scarcely  over  when,  opening  her  reticule 
and  taking  out  a  roll  of  manuscripts,  Lady  Huntley 
commenced  reading  poem  after  poem  which  had  "  come 
to  her,"  she  declared,  in  the  most  unexpected  manner. 

"The  following,"  she  said,  "I  consider  a  remarkable 
experience,  not  only  from  the  way  in  which  I  received 
it,  but  also  that  it  points  to  the  purest  theism,  as  the 
religion  taught  by  the  most  advanced  spirits.  Two 
years  ago,  in  Chicago,  while  attending  Sunday  spirit 
ual  services  there,  a  hymn,  little  above  doggerel,  was 
sung  to  the  tune  'America.'  (In  fact,  except  the 
national  anthems  of  England  and  America,  which  I  do 
not  presume  to  criticise,  I  have  rarely  seen  hymns  to 
that  metre,  worthy  of  the  tune.)  On  leaving  the 
church,  I  made  this  remark  to  my  husband,  and  said, 
'  I  wish  I  could  be  influenced  to  write  a  suitable  hymn 
for  that  tune. '  I  do  not  think  I  gave  the  subject  any 
further  thought,  but  a  few  days  after,  while  otherwise 


136  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

occupied,  I  asked  my  husband  to  write  from  my  dicta 
tion  the  following  hymn :  — 


"  Thou  love  ineffable, 
Father  unchangeable, 
Ruler  o'er  all ; 
Of  light,  infinite  source  ; 
Of  life,  eternal  force  ; 
Of  worlds  who  mark'st  the  course, 
On  thee  we  call. 


"  Thee,  sun  and  stars  adore. 
As  they  all  space  explore 
They  worship  thee. 
Thou  author  of  our  days, 
While  seraphs  hymn  thy  praise, 
We  chant  our  noblest  lays, 
Thine  offspring  we. 

"  Almighty  parent  thou, 
We  at  thy  footstool  bow, 
We  thee  adore ; 
Enthroned  in  light  who  art 
New  life  to  every  heart, 
Of  thy  free  grace  impart, 
We  thee  implore. 

"  As  angels,  who  thy  will, 
All  thy  behests  fulfil 
With  willing  feet ; 
Thy  spirit  us  inspire, 
Baptize  with  sacred  fire, 
Be  it  our  soul's  desire 
Thy  will  to  meet. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK.  137 

"  Omnipotence  Divine ! 
All  power  and  glory  thine. 
May  every  soul 
Receive  thy  gracious  word, 
Thy  Kingdom  come,  O  Lord, 
Thy  spirit  be  outpoured 
To  make  earth  whole. 

"When  finished,  I  said:  'I  believe  that  is  an  adap 
tation  from  the  Sanscrit,  and  was  sung  in  ancient  At 
lantis.'  Judge,  then,  of  our  surprise,  the  following 
Sunday  evening  to  hear,  as  the  inspired  speaker's  invo 
cation,  the  hymn  of  the  previous  week,  not  in  exactly 
the  same  metre,  but  line  by  line  in  blank  verse,  or 
poetical  prose. 

"  On  leaving  the  church,  a  clairvoyante  said  to  me : 
'Are  you  aware  your  guide  was  on  the  platform  to 
night  influencing  the  lecturer  ? '  I  think  this  accounts 
for  the  hymn  and  invocation  being  almost  identical; 
and  I  have  reasons  to  believe,  which  to  us  are  conclu 
sive,  that  this  guide  whom  the  lady  saw  was  Yermah, 
the  Atlantian." 

The  conversation  changing  after  this  to  the  topic  of 
spiritual  marriage,  the  discussion  of  the  previous  even 
ing  having  considerably  exercised  Lady  Porchester,  so 
much  so  that  she  was  eager  to  talk  it  over  with  Lady 
Huntley,  whom  she  regarded  as  quite  an  authority  on 
all  questions  somewhat  beyond  the  ordinary  —  that 
ever-reminiscent  lady  gave  the  following  singular  nar 
ration,  which  she  declared  to  be  correct  in  every  detail : 

"It  was  in  the  winter  of  1878  that  our  kind  friends 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon  were  residing  at  Bournemouth,  in 


138  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thaw,  18  West  Cliff  Street, 
who  had  long  been  so  interested  in  psychic  phenomena, 
that  almost  every  inmate  of  their  house,  whether  rela 
tive  or  servant,  became  decidedly  mediumistic;  a  fact 
we  can  only  explain  in  accordance  with  our  very  de 
cided  conviction  that  psychic  gifts  are  dormant  in  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  we  meet  on  our  daily  path 
in  life,  whatever  that  path  may  be,  only  needing  a 
stimulating  influence  from  their  neighbors,  if  not  from 
their  own  desires,  to  fan  the  lambent  spark  into  a  flame. 
A  girl  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  quite  illiterate,  and 
with  no  previous  knowledge  of  aught  pertaining  to 
Spiritualism,  entered  the  Thaw  household  as  a  kitchen- 
maid.  About  three  months  later,  this  untutored  child, 
whose  humble  occupation,  like  Dickens'  'Marchion 
ess,'  filled  all  her  time  and  employed  all  her  energy, 
was  the  subject  of  the  following  amazing  experience. 
Mrs.  Thaw's  sister  had  passed  out  of  the  body  shortly 
before  her  intended  marriage  to  a  young  man  who  fol 
lowed  her  to  spirit-life  soon  after.  One  evening  when 
this  little  maid  was  called  upon  to  prepare  the  evening 
meal  as  usual,  it  was  found  impossible  to  awaken  her; 
she  had  retired  to  her  chamber  and  locked  herself  in ; 
she  appeared  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  to  inform 
Mrs.  Thaw  that  she  had  been  present  at  a  marriage 
ceremony  in  the  spiritual  world,  the  contracting  parties 
being  Mrs.  Thaw's  sister  and  the  young  man  to  whom 
she  was  engaged  on  earth.  The  escort  was  'Pietro,' 
the  familiar  spirit-guide  of  a  famous  London  medium. 
She  gave  a  full  account  of  the  marriage,  which  was  per 
formed  by  a  clergyman  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  in 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  139 

the  words  of  the  book  of  Common  Prayer.  She  gave 
the  names  of  many  of  the  persons  present,  who  included 
many  notable  individuals  known  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thaw,  prominent  among  whom  was  the  celebrated 
American,  Judge  Edmonds.  The  temple  was  beauti 
fully  decorated  with  flowers.  'Pietro  '  having  to  return 
to  earth  to  be  present  at  a  stance  given  in  London  that 
evening,  told  Margerie  that  if  she  would  lock  her  door 
on  retiring  for  the  night,  he  would  accompany  her  to 
the  festivities  in  honor  of  the  nuptials.  On  again 
arriving  in  the  spiritual  world  she  was  magnificently 
attired  as  became  a  wedding  guest;  the  dressing-rooms 
were  all  bowers  of  flowers.  A  splendid  ball  was  given 
in  a  spacious  hall  luxuriously  adorned,  at  which  she 
danced  from  midnight  till  six  in  the  morning,  except 
during  the  interval  for  refreshments,  when  she  was 
treated  to  viands  of  so  recherche  a  character,  consisting 
principally  of  marvellous  fruits,  that  when  she  returned 
to  her  earthly  consciousness  and  her  duties  in  the 
kitchen,  she  could  not  eat  the  food  presented  to  her  for 
days,  and  regretted  bitterl}T  that  'Pietro '  had  not 
acceded  to  her  request,  which  was  a  piteous  appeal  to 
be  permitted  to  remain  permanently  in  the  spiritual 
state.  The  food  she  had  partaken  of  in  her  exalted 
condition  was  evidently  of  so  sustaining  a  character 
that  the  forty-eight  hours'  fast  which  followed  its  con 
sumption  in  no  way  reduced  her  strength  or  disqualified 
her  from  the  performance  of  her  monotonous  labor,  dis 
tasteful  and  gross  though  it  appeared.  To  show  that 
this  girl  (Margerie)  had  become  a  wonderful  medium 
whose  clairvoyance  was  susceptible  of  verification,  we 


140  DASHED   AGAINST  THE 

append  the  following  interesting  narrative:  While 
'Pietro  '  was  absent  in  London  at  Mr.  Eglantine's 
seance,  a  private  circle  was  being  held  at  Mr.  Thaw's, 
at  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thaw,  Miss  Emeline  Thaw, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  and  Margerie  were  present. 
Margerie  and  Emeline  were  seated  side  by  side. 
Shortly  after  singing  and  when  conversation  had  sub 
sided,  Emeline  exclaimed,  'Don't  you  hear  guns  fir 
ing?'  Margerie  answered,  'Don't  you  see  ships?' 
Emeline  replied,  'No,  I  do  not';  when  Margerie  con 
tinued,  'Come  up  here  where  I  am  and  you  will  see 
them  plainly. '  (The  two  girls,  it  must  be  remembered, 
were  seated  close  together  at  a  table.)  Emeline,  after  a 
moment's  silence,  said,  'Yes,  I  see  them  now,  and  the 
firing  is  from  these  ships  into  a  city,  but  no  one  seems 
to  be  hurt  and  the  people  are  moving  about.'  Mr. 
Thaw  asked,  'Can  you  give  the  name  of  the  city?' 
The  answer  came  hesitatingly:  'B-A-T-O, '  and  then 
stopped.  Next  day  the  London  journals  gave  an 
account  of  a  false  attack  made  on  Batoum  the  night 
before,  to  see  whether  the  garrison  was  watchful.  This 
is  but  one  out  of  many  instances  going  far  to  prove  the 
genuineness  of  the  psychic  discernment  of  these  re 
markable  girls,  the  elder  of  which  was  only  sixteen. 
Later  the  same  evening  Margerie  passed  into  a  trance  and 
appeared  terror-struck,  shouting  ''Fire,  FIRE;  murder, 
MURDER;  the  soldiers  are  killing  all  the  people  and 
burning  the  houses.'  Others  in  the  room  saw  the  re 
flection  of  the  fire,  but  heard  nothing;  next  morning  the 
same  London  papers  reported  that  during  the  previous 
night  Russian  soldiers  had  attacked  a  village  among 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  141 

the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor,  massacred  the  inhabi 
tants,  and  set  fire  to  the  village  —  a  pretty  strong  cor- 
roboration  of  Margerie's  clairvoyance.  Many  similar 
incidents  are  to  my  positive  knowledge  quite  frequent 
in  the  experiences  of  thoroughly  well-balanced  people, 
positively  confirming  the  existence  of  seerships  in  the 
present  generation." 

Had  Lady  Huntley  not  been  obliged  to  meet  a  press 
ing  engagement  at  four  o'clock,  she  could  doubtless 
have  continued  her  psychical  narrations  indefinitely; 
but  being  a  very  punctual  woman,  hating  to  be  kept 
waiting  herself  or  to  keep  others  waiting,  she  could  not 
be  induced  to  stay  a  moment  longer  when  the  clock 
warned  her  she  had  only  just  time  to  meet  her  engage 
ment,  and  the  footman  announced  that  her  carriage  was 
in  waiting. 

Shortly  after  Lady  Huntley's  departure,  Miss  Poyntz 
experienced  a  tingling  sensation  in  her  right  hand, 
which  always  made  her  feel  that  some  friend  was  desir 
ous  of  conveying  a  message  to  or  through  her  telepath- 
ically.  Taking  pencil  in  hand  and  letting  it  rest 
gently  on  a  large  sheet  of  white  paper  spread  out  on  the 
table  before  her,  quite  automatically  the  pencil  wrote 
in  a  clear,  fine  hand,  quite  unlike  her  own :  — 

"We  had  a  delightful  journey  to  Liverpool,  where 
we  have  just  arrived.  We  like  our  rooms  at  the 
Queen's  Hotel  very  much,  and  wish  you  were  both 
with  us.  The  steamer  sails  to-morrow  at  four  in  the 
afternoon.  We  are  going  to  a  grand  concert  in  St. 
George's  Hall  this  evening,  and  hope  you  will  realize 
where  we  are  and  how  we  are  drinking  in  the  harmo 
nies.  Your  faithful  friend,  VISALIA." 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

Only  very  seldom  did  Miss  Poyntz  receive  such  dis 
tinctly  definite  messages,  and  as  she  was  something  of 
a  novice  in  telepathy,  they  interested  her  intensely, 
while  they  occasioned  rapture  in  the  breast  of  Lady 
Porchester.  An  hour  later  a  telegram  arrived  contain 
ing  those  identical  words  in  precisely  the  same  order 
but  with  the  omission  of  the  sentence  "your  faithful 
friend,"  and  the  signature  " Eastlake-Gore, "  instead  of 
"Visalia."  The  perfect  accuracy  of  the  message  and 
the  reason  for  the  discrepancy  in  the  dispatch  was  fully 
explained  the  day  following,  when  a  letter  for  both 
ladies  came  from  Madame  Discalcelis,  in  which  she 
related  the  fact  of  her  dictating  the  telegram  and  ask 
ing  Mr.  Gore  to  send  it,  and  at  the  same  time  willing 
that  Miss  Poyntz  should  receive  a  telepathic  message. 

Telepathy  is  still  only  in  its  infancy  and  but  very 
imperfectly  understood  even  by  those  who  most  fully 
accept  it  as  a  reality.  For  the  enlightenment  of  all 
who  are  really  interested  in  it  as  a  science,  we  will  say 
that  three  conditions  are  imperatively  necessary  for  its 
successful  demonstration. 

1st.    Perfect  easy  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  sender. 

2d.  Passivity  and  freedom  from  all  interference 
with  what  is  being  written  on  the  part  of  the  receiver. 

3d.  Sympathy  in  thought  between  sender  and  re 
ceiver,  amounting  to  concordance  of  mutual  vibrations. 

When  these  three  indispensable  requisites  are  fur 
nished,  telepathy  is  as  exactly  demonstrable  as  ordinary 
electric  telegraphy. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
'TWIXT  SHORE  AND  SHORE.  —  A  GLIMPSE  OP  MARS. 

THOUGH  the  City  of  Alexandria  was  more  crowded 
than  it  usually  is  on  an  outgoing  passage  in  August, 
in  consequence  of  the  great  concourse  of  tourists  en 
route  to  the  Fair,  Mr.  Gore  had  exercised  such  admira 
ble  discretion  in  booking  passage  six  weeks  ahead  of 
sailing  date  that  his  mother  and  her  guest,  as  well  as 
himself  and  Professor  Monteith,  were  provided  with 
the  very  choicest  rooms  that  magnificent  vessel  contains. 

Madame  Discalcelis  was  never  ill  at  sea  —  indeed,  she 
was  rarely  unwell  anywhere ;  for  though  of  an  unusually 
sensitive  organization,  her  constitution  was  so  phenom 
enally  sound  and  her  general  health  so  excellent,  that 
she  astonished  every  one  who  met  her  with  the  apparent 
contradiction  between  a  very  delicately  organized  body 
and  an  amazing  amount  of  vitality.  To  her  the  trip  to 
America  had  all  the  charm  of  complete  novelty,  for 
hitherto  she  had  never  sailed  on  other  waters  than  the 
North  Sea,  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  the  Mediterranean. 
Though  a  very  young  woman,  she  had  travelled  largely 
in  Europe,  having  visited  within  the  last  five  years 
Spain,  Italy,  France,  Norway,  and  Austria,  in  all  of 

143 


144  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

which  countries  she  had  enjoyed  perfect  health  and 
entered  sympathetically  as  well  as  intelligently  into 
the  life  and  manners  of  the  people  among  whom  she 
resided,  not  as  an  alien,  but  as  a  friend.  With  all  the 
merry  joyousness  of  a  girl,  this  woman  —  whom  many 
people  in  "society"  thought  cold  and  heartless,  because 
her  depth  of  character  was  beyond  their  power  to  fathom 
—  paced  lightly  as  a  bird  up  and  down  the  steamer 
deck  in  even  the  roughest  weather,  and  never  once 
absented  herself  from  table  on  plea  of  mal  de  mer.  The 
free  bounding  ocean  suited  her  temperament  far  better 
than  the  gas-illumined  salons  of  the  English  nobility, 
and  it  was  a  rare  and  real  delight  to  her  to  feel  that 
there  was  no  roof  over  her  head  but  the  star-gemmed 
vault  of  azure,  as  on  the  upper  deck  of  the  steamer  she 
sat  or  stood  hour  after  hour  —  when  most  of  the  passen 
gers  had  retired  to  their  cabins  or  were  afraid  to  leave 
them  —  gazing  into  the  peerless  wonders  of  the  celes 
tial  canopy. 

There  were  times  when  the  glory  of  the  night  inspired 
her  to  sing,  again  it  would  move  her  to  fervent  prayer, 
and  yet  again  to  tears ;  but  her  tears  were  sweet,  not 
bitter,  for  they  were  tears  of  faith  and  gratitude,  not 
even  touched  by  complaining  or  despair.  Sometimes 
Mrs.  Gore  would  sit  by  her  and  endeavor  to  read  her 
face,  but  she  could  never  penetrate  the  meaning  of  the 
mystic  light  in  those  expressive  orbs,  which  were  some 
times  blue  as  sapphires  and  then  would  change  till  they 
appeared  almost  hazel.  A  truly  mystical  face,  when  it 
is  a  perfectly  healthy  and  open  countenance,  is  a  won 
derful  and  glorious  study.  The  play  of  light  and  shade 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  145 

is  so  exquisitely  fine,  the  glimpses  gained  of  the  soul 
behind  are  so  vivid,  yet  so  incomprehensible,  that  the 
face  of  one  who  is  truly  inspired  is  a  living  mirror  in 
which  are  reflected  forms  of  beauty,  conceptions  of 
grace  and  perfectness,  far  beyond  all  mortal  desig 
nation. 

Visalia  was  not  satisfied  with  Askalon,  though  it  had 
sold  to  the  extent  of  350,000  copies  and  had  netted  her 
seven  thousand  pounds;  she  knew  it  was  a  success 
artistically  and  financially,  but  it  did  not  embody  half 
she  desired  to  reveal  to  the  few  among  the  masses  who 
would  eagerly  read  all  she  wrote,  who  could  really 
appreciate  the  best  she  had  to  disclose  to  them.  She 
was  asking  the  stars  to  tell  her  about  themselves,  and 
as  fiery  Mars  rode  high  in  the  heavens,  it  seemed  to  her 
that  she  could  see  within  its  atmosphere  the  life  of  its 
inhabitants.  Astronomers  are  forever  speculating  as 
to  whether  Mars  is  or  is  not  inhabited,  but  so  far  their 
painstaking  researches  have  availed  little  to  settle  this 
disputed  point,  and  perhaps,  after  all,  it  may  be  re 
served  for  spiritual  insight  or  psychic  perception  to 
actually  pierce  the  earthly  veil  and  discern  the  true 
condition  of  the  earth's  brother  planet. 

To  the  eyes  of  the  fair  seeress,  as  she  reclined  one 
lovely  evening  in  her  steamer  chair,  after  the  moon  had 
risen  and  the  calm  of  night  spread  like  a  gracious  pro 
tecting  pall  over  the  sleeping  passengers  (she  was  utterly 
alone  on  deck  and  it  was  near  midnight),  it  seemed  to 
her  that  the  body  of  Mars  shone  out  through  a  silvery 
drapery  of  cloud  like  the  exquisite  form  of  a  glorious 
statue  through  the  filmiest  veil  of  lace  drapery.  As 


146  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

the  planet  revealed  itself,  it  exhibited  a  state  far  in 
advance  of  the  condition  of  this  semi-benighted  star; 
and  as  the  panorama  of  its  wonders  appeared  slowly  to 
unroll,  the  buildings  in  the  cities  disclosed  themselves 
as  such  perfect  specimens  of  architectural  design  that 
the  builders  of  earth  might  seek  to  cultivate  the  higher 
clairvoyance,  if  by  its  means  they  could  catch  glimpses 
of  the  supernal  splendor  of  those  majestic  habitations. 
The  air  seemed  very  clear,  bracing,  intellectually  stim 
ulating  to  the  highest  degree,  and  so  rarefied  that  the 
range  of  perspective  was  at  least  three  times  greater 
than  on  earth.  As  to  natural  scenery,  it  was  bold  and 
impressive  in  outline  and  general  features,  but  nothing 
appeared  large.  The  Martians  are  almost  a  Lilliputian 
race,  but  they  are  exquisitely  modelled  and  their  forms 
are  moulded  into  the  most  enchanting  symmetry. 

To  the  vision  of  the  ecstatically  entranced  Visalia  the 
forms  which  floated  before  her  superconscious  vision 
seemed  like  stately  forms  of  mind,  wherein  the  passions 
were  so  entirely  governed  that  though  Mars  was  wor 
shipped  by  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  as  the  god  of 
war,  the  very  idea  of  anything  so  senseless  and  barbaric 
as  a  sanguinary  conflict  seemed  impossible  on  the  part 
of  those  superbly  wise  creatures,  whose  mellow  mien 
suggested  such  ripened  intelligence  as  bespeaks  the 
impulse  to  warfare  completely  surpassed  by  understand 
ing  of  the  true  science  of  equitable  government. 

In  a  hall  of  legislation  there  appeared  a  tribunal, 
where  on  twelve  raised  seats  sat  twenty-four  rulers  of 
the  twelve  provinces  of  the  special  territory  to  the 
sight  of  which  Madame  Discalcelis  was  intromitted ; 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  147 

these  twenty-four  rulers  or  representatives-in-chief 
of  the  twelve  districts  were  married  couples  whose 
thoughts  flowed  so  perfectly  in  harmony  that  one 
might  well  believe  they  represented  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  zodiac,  and  therefore  in  their  complementary 
deliberations  each  pair  perceived  and  suggested  some 
thing  essential  to  the  general  good  not  beheld  by 
any  or  all  of  the  other  eleven  couples.  There  was 
no  strife,  no  harsh  contradictory  arguments,  no  en 
deavor  on  the  part  of  any  to  antagonize  the  others,  but 
sweetly,  rhythmically,  like  the  cadence  of  a  perfectly 
rendered  song,  the  united  thought  of  the  twelve  senato 
rial  couples  flowed  forth  into  the  splendid  council 
chamber,  which  in  shape  was  a  perfect  duo-decimon. 
When  any  one  proposed  any  measure  or  made  any  sug 
gestion  all  the  others  listened  quietly  and  with  the 
utmost  attention,  and  though  immediate  acquiescence 
was  not  always  forthcoming,  it  never  appeared  neces 
sary  to  fight  for  an  issue  when  cool  deliberation  always 
in  due  time  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  every  desirable 
proposition. 

The  social  condition  on  Mars  has  been  for  many 
centuries  far  more  perfect  than  the  most  zealous  enthu 
siasts  for  socialism  and  nationalism  have  ever  hoped 
would  prevail  on  earth  by  the  opening  of  the  twenty- 
first  century;  for,  owing  to  the  superiority  of  the  Mar 
tians  to  such  sordid  mercenariness  and  such  vulgar 
plutocracy  as  prevails  on  earth,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
persuade  the  multitude  to  co-operate  for  the  common 
good.  Business  on  Mars  is  conducted  on  strictly 
scientific  principles,  and  as  to  Art,  it  receives  that 


148  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

untrammelled  expression  which  is  only  possible  where 
the  vulgar  necessity  of  sacrificing  genius  to  mediocre 
taste,  for  physical  maintenance,  does  not  in  even  the 
smallest  measure  prevail.  On  Mars  religion  seems  to 
consist  in  such  faithful  discharge  of  every  obligation, 
in  such  fealty  to  conviction,  and  such  perfect  loyalty 
to  duty,  that  there  is  no  gulf  or  barrier  separating  the 
creed  professed  on  one  day  of  a  week  to  the  life  lived  on 
six  other  days.  Religion  there  is,  for  though  the  Mar 
tians  are  giants  in  intellect  and  have  made  scientific 
discoveries  and  applications  far  in  advance  of  the  most 
romantic  dreams  of  the  savans  of  Earth,  they  are  no 
doubters,  nor  do  they  think  agnosticism  scientific,  when 
the  GNOSTIC  (knowing  one)  is  and  can  be  the  only  true 
scientist.  To  the  dwellers  on  Mars  GOD  is  a  reality; 
if  they  have  ever  passed  through  the  materialistic  stage 
they  have  happily  left  it  far  behind  them,  and  as  they 
study  the  marvellous  phenomena  of  the  universe  they 
plainly  discern  the  majestic  working  of  the  infinite 
NOUMENON,  without  whom  there  could  be  no  phe 
nomena. 

********** 
Softly  as  the  footfall  of  a  cat,  a  quiet  step  gently 
vibrated  on  the  deck,  and  the  vacant  chair  a  few  feet 
from  where  Madame  Discalcelis  was  reclining  was 
occupied  by  Professor  Monteith,  who,  drawn  partly  by 
the  beauty  of  the  night,  but  far  more  by  his  own  rest 
less  spirit,  had  wandered  to  the  upper  deck  in  search 
of  he  knew  not  what.  He  had  that  very  day  been  read 
ing  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  of  an  Italian 
astronomer's  recent  theories  of  the  possible  inhabita- 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  BOCK.  149 

tion  of  other  worlds  than  ours,  and  as  he  read  the 
thought  occurred  to  him  over  and  over  again  with 
haunting  persistency,  "Why,  oh  why,  is  there  so  much 
speculation  and  seemingly  no  certainty  whatever  even 
among  our  greatest  scientific  lights  ?  If,  indeed,  there 
be  such  a  thing  as  science,  which  means  knowledge,  if 
it  is  not  a  ridiculous  farce  and  ironical  misnomer,  why 
should  there  be  no  definite  knowledge  concerning  some 
thing,  even  though  our  knowledge  necessarily  is  lim 
ited  to  a  mere  fragment  of  the  universe  ?  But  surely 
concerning  the  fragment  which  we  can  explore  we 
ought  to  be  able  to  find  out  something."  Whenever 
he  ruminated  thus,  and  such  ruminations  were  becom 
ing  very  frequent  with  him,  his  thoughts  turned  partly 
to  Aldebaran,  who  was  beyond  his  reach,  and  partly  to 
Madame  Discalcelis,  between  whom  and  himself  there 
was  growing  up  a  steady  bond  of  genuine  sympathy, 
begotten  of  his  wondrous  visions  of  the  inamorata  of 
his  youth,  whose  gentle,  searching,  spiritual  presence 
always  seemed  more  real  to  him  after  he  had  spent  an 
hour  in  Visalia's  presence;  for,  though  she  was  not 
what  the  world  usually  calls  a  spiritualist,  he  knew  of 
no  one  who  was  so  ever-ready  to  indorse  and  encourage 
that  kind  of  spiritual  communion  which  is  expressed 
by  sincere  desire  to  become  conscious  of  union  with 
the  higher  life  through  a  lifting  of  our  own  conscious 
ness,  not  seeking  to  attract  the  dwellers  in  a  brighter 
state  to  the  dark  shadows  and  sordid  miseries  of  ordi 
nary  mortal  undertakings. 

When  Visalia  was  in  "one  of  her  trances,"  as  many 
people  styled  her  periods  of  superconscious  activity, 


150  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

she  appeared  singularly  beautiful;  no  trace  of  cata 
lepsy  or  hysteria  marred  the  loveliness  of  her  exalted 
condition,  and  no  rigidity  of  muscle  or  death-like 
swoon  rendered  her  state  alarming  to  the  physiologist. 
Perfect  health  was  indicated  in  her  pose,  in  her  regu 
lar  breathing,  in  the  gentle  movements  of  her  chest, 
and  in  the  perfect  regularity  of  her  heart-beats  and 
her  pulse,  while  her  countenance  was  irradiated  with 
an  expression  of  intense  delight,  indicating  her  abso 
lute  concentration  upon  an  object  presented  to  her 
inner  gaze. 

When  Professor  Monteith  approached  within  her  at 
mosphere,  she  was  just  returning  to  her  ordinary  waking 
condition,  and  according  to  her  invariable  experience 
at  such  a  time,  was  feeling  not  only  ready  but  anxious 
to  tell  to  some  appreciative  listener  the  tale  of  her 
recent  vision.  Professor  Monteith  seemed  to  divine 
the  nature  of  her  "dream,"  as  he  called  it,  for  his  first 
words  to  her  were :  — 

"I  have  been  studying  to-day,  and  you  have  been 
dreaming  to-night  on  the  same  subject,  but  while  I 
have  gained  nothing  satisfactory  from  my  perusal  of 
recent  scientific  writings,  you,  I  venture  to  presume, 
have  been  favored  with  what  to  you  is  conclusive  evi 
dence  on  the  score  of  Mars  and  its  interesting  popula 
tion.  I  wish  I  could  believe  as  you  do  in  this  inner 
sense.  I  joined  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  two 
years  ago,  and  I  have  listened  attentively  to  testimony, 
but  nothing,  not  even  my  own  occasional  blissful 
visions  of  my  beloved  one,  can  silence  finally  my 
doubts." 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  151 

"  if  you  are  going  to  speak  in  that  strain,  I  have 
nothing  to  say  to  you :  we  have  already  gone  over  that 
ground  too  often ;  you  know  that  I  affirm  that  no  one 
need  doubt,  —  faith  and  doubt  alike  are  voluntary.  I 
choose  the  former  as  being  far  nobler  and  more  soul- 
satisfying;  as  the  latter  brings  you  no  joy  or  sweet 
contentment,  I  advise  you  to  abandon  it.  If  you  let 
evidence  appeal  to  you,  and  you  are  impartial  in  your 
attitude  toward  it,  you  can  be  as  sure  as  I  am  that  the 
unseen  realm  is  not  invisible  and  that  the  unknown 
truth  is  not  unknowable.  But  if  you  are  here  to  ask 
me  about  Mars,  I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  witnessed ; 
take  it  as  a  fancy  sketch  if  you  prefer,  though  to  me  it 
is  reality." 

Seeing  the  professor  really  interested  and  in  no  mood 
for  idle  carping,  the  gifted  seeress  related  all  she  had 
seen  and  heard  within  the  past  two  hours.  As  she  fin 
ished  her  narration  the  professor,  deeply  interested, 
plied  her  with  question  after  question,  and  as  she 
answered  them  it  seemed  for  the  first  time  clear  to  him 
that,  whatever  might  be  the  source  of  her  instruction, 
she  was  unmistakably  inspired;  for  here  was  a  young 
woman  devoid  of  what  he  and  his  school  would  call  all 
scientific  education,  able  to  answer  profoundly,  learn 
edly,  explicitly,  questions  touching  upon  the  technical 
points  of  exact  science,  and  beyond  being  equal  to  the 
task  of  answering,  she  anticipated  and  raised  inquiries 
which  none  but  an  accomplished  expert  could  possibly 
devise  or  handle.  Mystification  is  certainly  not  con 
viction,  but  to  be  mystified  as  Professor  Monteith  that 
night  was  mystified  was  to  be  almost,  if  not  entirely, 


152  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   EOCK. 

persuaded  to  accept  Visalia's  cherished  theory  that  the 
book  of  universal  knowledge  is  an  unsealed  volume  to 
all  who  are  determined  to  bravely  launch  upon  its 
occult  waters  and  ascend  into  its  currents  of  super- 
terrestrial  air. 

"  But,  my  dear  Madame,  what  do  you  understand  by 
inspiration  when  you  say  we  may  all  become  inspired? 
You  do  not  evidently  mean  that  you  are  in  direct 
communion  with  the  Infinite,  nor  are  you  under  any 
influence,  as  spiritualist  mediums  claim  to  be;  there 
is,  for  example,  an  appreciable  difference  between  your 
condition  and  that  of  Miss  Poyntz,  though  she  strikes 
me  as  far  above  the  plane  of  ordinary  mediums  or 
clairvoyants.  You  say  you  do  not  leave  your  body, 
you  do  not  travel  through  space  in  an  'astral  form,' 
as  certain  theosophists  claim  they  do ;  how,  then,  do  you 
account  for  your  own  experiences?  Can  you  explain 
the  modus  operandi  of  your  superior  states  so  that  I 
may  at  least  be  able  to  consider  them  on  the  basis  of 
an  intelligible  working  hypothesis  ?  " 

"To  answer  you  as  you  and  the  subject  deserve 
would  require  knowledge  far  greater  than  mine,  and 
I  hope  some  day  you  will  meet  the  teacher  who  taught 
me  first  how  to  relate  myself  at  will  to  the  unseen  cir 
cles  ;  I  can  give  you  his  theory,  which  I  fully  accept,  as 
he  gave  it  to  me  in  Genoa  when  we  were  waiting  for 
a  steamer  to  carry  us  to  Naples.  'There  are,'  he  said, 
'circles  of  souls  who  are  in  such  complete  unison  that 
they  constitute,  to  use  the  expressive  Gospel  phrase, 
"a  mansion  in  the  Father's  house  ";  to  one  or  other  of 
these  circles  all  of  us  belong,  whether  we  are  aware  of  it 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  153 

or  not.  When  we  become  conscious  of  this  relation 
ship  and  claim  our  privilege  of  working  within  our 
confraternity,  the  knowledge  possessed  by  the  entire 
society  —  by  its  incarnate  and  excarnate  members 
equally  —  is  open  to  us  for  our  use  to  the  extent  we 
can  absorb  or  comprehend  it.  When  we  acknowledge 
this  relationship  and  claim  the  privileges  springing 
from  it  we  feel  ourselves  intromitted  to  the  spiritual 
state,  and  when  this  is  our  experience  we  see,  hear, 
taste,  touch,  and  smell  on  another  and  higher  plane  of 
consciousness  than  the  highest  of  which  we  are  at  other 
times  aware.'  This  night  I  felt  myself  in  vibratory 
unison  with  those  members  of  the  circle  to  which  I 
belong  who  are  familiar  with  the  state  of  Mars,  be 
cause  they  are  capable  of  seeing  it.  But  it  is  now  near 
one  o'clock,  and  we  must  postpone  further  conversation 
till  to-morrow." 

Madame  Discalcelis  never  said  more  than  what  she 
deemed  sufficient  on  any  occasion,  and  when  she  had 
spoken  she  quietly  but  firmly  ended  an  interview ;  her 
interlocutors  might  wish  to  keep  it  up  indefinitely,  but 
she  would  wish  them  a  graceful  au  revoir  and  trip 
lightly  away  to  her  retirement  where  none  could  fol 
low  her. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CAN  WE  REGULATE  OUR  DREAMS? 

THE  experiences  of  Madame  Discalcelis  and  of  Pro 
fessor  Monteith,  though  supposed  to  be  of  a  strictly 
private  nature,  could  not  be  kept  entirely  secret  from 
the  more  inquisitive  or  inquiring  among  the  passen 
gers,  and  there  were  several  among  them  who  professed 
far  more  than  superficial  interest  in  matters  pertaining 
to  the  occult. 

One  lady  in  particular,  who  was  fascinated  with 
Peter  Ibbetson,  and  wanted  everybody  to  read  it,  had 
tried  for  several  nights  in  succession  to  acquire  the 
delightful  faculty  of  DREAMING  TRUE,  by  following  as 
closely  as  possible  the  directions  given  in  that  extraor 
dinary  book  for  attaining  this  much-to-be-desired  result ; 
but  though  Mrs.  Emily  Guy  Throgmorton  had  tried 
hard  to  go  to  sleep  at  will  in  a  most  unnatural  and  un 
comfortable  position,  she  still  declared  there  was  a  miss 
ing  link  somewhere  in  the  chain  of  her  knowledge  of 
how  to  proceed. 

Mrs.  Throgmorton  being  a  decidedly  voluble  woman, 
very  fond  of  conversing  at  all  times  and  in  all  places 
with  anybody  who  sympathized  in  the  least  with  her 

154 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  155 

theories  and  aspirations,  very  soon  succeeded  in  identify 
ing  Mrs.  Felina  Wolf-Katzenheimer,  who  was  going 
to  the  World's  Fair  as  a  delegate  to  nine  congresses 
as  well  as  to  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  but  who, 
despite  her  prominent  position  on  the  lecture  platform, 
had  no  desire  to  be  lionized  or  quizzed  while  making 
the  passage  from  Liverpool  to  New  York. 

To  avoid  recognition,  if  possible,  Mrs.  Katzenheimer 
had  registered  her  maiden  name,  and  passed  therefore 
as  plain  Miss  Wolf,  an  appellation  which  excited  no 
curiosity.  As  four  days  out  of  the  eight  required  for 
the  trip  were  now  over,  and  no  one  had  ferreted  out  her 
identity,  the  delegate  to  so  many  congresses  felt  herself 
pretty  secure  from  molestation ;  but  she  knew  not  that 
Mrs.  Throgmorton  was  on  board,  a  fit  of  sea-sickness 
having  confined  that  usually  over-active  personage  to 
her  stateroom  from  within  two  hours  of  leaving  the 
dock  at  Liverpool. 

Mrs.  Throgmorton  had  by  this  time  recovered,  and 
the  day  being  singularly  bright  and  welcoming,  she 
basked  in  the  sunshine  on  deck,  comfortably  pillowed 
and  shawled  in  a  luxurious  reclining-chair,  watching 
with  eager  interest  all  the  passers-by  and  striving  as 
far  as  possible  to  catch  the  drift  of  floating  conversa 
tion,  that  she  might,  if  possible,  discover  who  on  the 
ship  was  interested  in  psychical  research,  to  which  she 
was  herself  supremely  and  passionately  devoted.  Her 
observations  soon  resulted  in  her  discovery  of  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer,  whom  she  recognized  instantly  as  the 
well-known  teacher  and  writer  on  mental  science  whom 
she  had  invited  on  several  occasions  to  speak  to  select 


156  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

coteries  of  her  bosom  friends  in  her  own  stately  house 
in  Kensington  Mall. 

Mrs.  Katzenheimer  was  engrossed  in  conversation 
with  an  English  clergyman  on  one  side,  and  the  wife  of 
an  American  Unitarian  preacher  on  the  other,  both  of 
whom  she  was  entertaining  with  an  account  of  some 
of  her  own  decidedly  noteworthy  psychical  experiences. 
As  her  voice  was  clear  and  penetrating,  every  syllable 
being  distinctly  enunciated,  though  with  a  slight  Ger 
man  accent,  Mrs.  Throgmorton,  whose  hearing  was 
very  acute,  heard  every  iota  of  the  conversation  and  it 
interested  her  immensely,  the  subject  being  closely 
allied  to  the  narrative  of  Peter  Ibbetson. 

"I  often  dream  true  nryself,"  declared  Mrs.  Katzen 
heimer;  "and  many  of  my  dreams  are  prophetic,"  she 
continued,  as  the  Rev.  Percival  Saint  George  regarded 
her  with  mild  wonder,  and  Mrs.  Geoffrey  Arlington 
ejaculated :  — 

"You  don't  mean  to  tell  us  so! " 

To  the  Teutonic  intellect  many  Americanisms  are 
slightly  embarrassing,  and  when  one  says  by  way  of 
displaying  interest  in  what  another  is  relating,  "  You 
don't  say  so,"  the  German  mind  is  apt  to  become  a 
little  confused  if  not  resentful,  and  exclaim,  "But  I 
do  mean  to  say  it " ;  then  follow  mutual  explanations, 
ending  with  perfect  comprehension  of  each  other's 
intentions. 

What  a  pity  it  is,  however,  that  language  is  not  so 
simplified  in  its  usage  that  words  are  employed  in 
harmony  with  their  obvious  significance  and  in  accord 
with  their  derivations ;  were  this  the  case,  how  much 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  157 

fewer  would  be  the  perplexities  and  misunderstandings 
which  at  present  needlessly  and  afnictingly  perplex  all 
who  are  strangers  by  birth  to  some  special  forms  of  the 
English  tongue. 

Mrs.  Throgmorton,  hearing  distinctly  Mrs.  Arling 
ton's  proposal  that  Mrs.  Katzenheimer  should  deliver 
an  address  on  "The  Science  of  Dreaming  True,  and 
how  we  may  receive  an  Education  while  Asleep,"  took 
her  earliest  opportunity  to  mention  the  fact  to  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  who  passed  her  chair  while  prome 
nading  the  deck.  When  she  met  the  lecturer  face  to 
face,  she  at  once  engaged  her  in  a  confab  which  lasted 
till  the  bell  for  the  second  dinner  warned  the  loqua 
cious  enthusiasts  that,  were  they  to  converse  much 
longer,  they  would  lose  their  principal  repast,  and  as 
they  were  both  hungry  they  agreed  to  let  psychical 
research  and  mental  healing  remain  in  abeyance  till  the 
meal  had  ended. 

That  very  evening  at  half-past  eight,  permission 
having  been  easily  obtained  from  the  captain,  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer  held  forth  to  a  crowded  salon.  She  was 
a  woman  of  rather  striking  appearance,  about  middle 
height,  and  not  portly,  but  very  well  built;  her  hair  was 
a  decided  yellow  and  her  eyes  were  pure  Saxon  blue ; 
her  voice  was  clear  and  at  times  loud,  but  never  harsh 
or  grating,  and  though  her  delivery  was  often  rapid, 
she  enunciated  so  distinctly  that  not  a  word  was  lost. 
Knowing  that  many  on  the  ship  besides  Mrs.  Throg 
morton  had  been  reading  Peter  Ibbetson  during  the 
voyage,  she  led  off  with  a  little  review  of  that  extraor 
dinary  autobiography,  and  then  gave,  as  was  her  usual 


158  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

wont,  philosophical  arguments,  among  which  were 
interweaved  many  singular  personal  experiences. 
Unbeknown  to  Mrs.  Katzenheimer,  there  was  a  stenog 
rapher  almost  at  her  elbow,  a  young  man  who  was 
desirous  of  seeing  how  an  "  inspirational "  address 
would  read  if  reported  verbatim  in  extenso.  The  fol 
lowing  is  Mrs.  Katzenheimer's  speech  just  as  she  de 
livered  it,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Charles 
Mountford  Collins,  special  correspondent  to  one  of  the 
largest  New  York  dailies. 

DREAMING  TRUE. 

Among  the  many  psychic  stories  with  which  the 
book  market  has  recently  been  flooded  we  know  of  none 
so  full  of  thrilling,  intense,  sustained  interest  as  Peter 
Ibbetson,  published  by  Harpers,  a  work  which,  while 
professedly  a  series  of  autobiographical  sketches  given 
to  the  world  subsequent  to  the  demise  of  their  author, 
has  from  first  to  last  all  the  characteristics  of  a  fasci 
nating,  and  we  must  add  somewhat  improbable,  though 
not  impossible,  romance.  An  English  lady  of  title,  who 
writes  under  the  assumed  name  of  "  Madge  Plunkett," 
declares  in  her  introductory  statement  that  a  distant 
relative  of  her  own  actually  passed  through  experiences 
almost,  if  not  entirely,  identical  with  those  related  of 
the  hero  in  the  narrative,  and  as  the  work  itself,  whether 
considered  as  prose  or  poetry,  fact  or  fiction,  possesses 
many  features  of  intense  interest  to  the  student  of  psy 
chology  or  psychic  science,  we  will  briefly  review  and 
comment  upon  the  particularly  salient  portions  of  the 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  159 

tale,  which  may  be  summarized  thus :  Many  years  ago 
in  France  two  children  grew  up  with  many  kindred 
tastes  and  much  warm,  mutual  affection,  though  this 
boy  and  girl  were  exceeding  dissimilar  in  all  physical 
and  other  outward  respects.  The  boy  was  strong  and 
healthy,  while  the  girl  was  delicate  and  diffident;  but 
as  vivid  contrasts  blend  in  the  most  perfect  harmonies, 
so  this  couple  of  children  grew  to  think  the  same 
thoughts,  enjoy  the  same  pleasures,  and  take  the  tender- 
est  interest  in  each  other's  welfare.  Just  as  they  arrived 
at  an  age  when  mutual  companionship  was  growing 
intensely  profitable,  and  one  seemed  a  positive  necessity 
to  the  other,  fate  separated  them,  and  for  several  years 
they  neither  saw  nor  heard  anything  of  each  other. 
During  these  years  the  boy  had  grown  to  be  a  studious, 
intelligent  young  man,  but  one  upon  whom  Fortune 
bestowed  but  very  few  of  her  always  fickle  smiles,  while 
the  somewhat  unpromising  little  maid  had  been  trans 
formed  into  a  magnificent  woman,  an  almost  perfect 
type  of  moral,  mental,  and  bodily  grace  and  symmetry. 
The  young  man  and  woman  meet,  as  it  seems,  by 
chance  at  a  ball  where  he  was  an  invited  guest,  through 
the  kindness  of  a  distinguished  friend  who  appreciated 
worth  rather  than  wealth  or  social  standing  —  but  she 
had  become  the  "Duchess  of  Towers."  From  the 
instant  they  encountered  each  other  at  the  ball  to  the 
end  of  their  earthly  lives  they  were  psychically  unsep- 
arated,  no  matter  what  distances  by  land  or  sea,  or  even 
prison  walls,  might  divide  their  bodies.  Fate,  in  the 
persons  of  British  administrators  of  "justice"  behaved 
very  harshly  to  the  young  man,  who  is  represented  as 


160  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

anything  but  an  undesirable  character;  he  was,  how 
ever,  unfortunately  involved  in  a  quarrel,  and  for  unin 
tentionally  causing  the  death  of  a  ruffian  who  wore  the 
livery  of  a  gentleman  he  was  condemned  to  life-long 
imprisonment.  The  sentence  was  neither  repealed  nor 
modified,  but  during  a  period  of  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  years  he  was  sustained  and  blest  in  lonely  and 
unjust  captivity  through  the  agency  of  such  a  marvel 
lous,  but  by  no  means  incredible,  faculty  of  dreaming 
true,  that  on  an  average,  he  enjoyed  for  eight  hours  out 
of  every  twenty-four,  uninterrupted  communion  with 
the  lovely  widow,  between  whom  and  himself  there 
existed  the  purest  and  most  faithful  bond  of  sincerest 
affection.  We  dwell  briefly  on  these  incidents  because 
they  serve  to  illustrate  the  conditions  under  which  the 
highest  and  most  perfect  manifestations  of  telepathy, 
or  thought  transference,  may  be  secured.  Two  persons 
devotedly  attached  to  each  other,  so  much  so  that 
they  may  be  said  to  be  literally  wrapped  up  in  each 
other,  can  secure  satisfactory  mental  inter-communion 
practically  impossible  under  other  circumstances ;  the 
closest  sympathy  between  donor  and  receiver  is  ever 
necessary  to  the  demonstration  of  a  perfect  telepathic 
test,  particularly  one  that  can  be  repeated  at  will. 
This  faculty  of  dreaming  true  is,  however,  so  advanced 
a  stage  of  telepathy  that  it  far  transcends  the  most  suc 
cessful  hypnotic  experiments  of  CharcOt,  Bernheim,  and 
other  illustrious  professors  of  the  hypnotic  art ;  it  really 
amounts  to  absolute  interblending  of  psychic  spheres  to 
the  extent  of  virtually  annihilating  space  and  becoming 
capable  of  projecting  mental  emanations  at  will  to  a 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  161 

chosen  spot  ordained  to  receive  them.  The  most  singu 
lar  feature  of  all  in  the  experiences  of  "  Peter  Ibbet- 
son  "  and  the  "  Duchess  of  Towers  "  is  that  they  selected 
a  place  in  France  —  the  site  of  their  childhood's  home  — 
as  the  scene  of  their  nightly  psychic  rendezvous,  and  while 
both  of  them  went  to  sleep,  and  awoke  duly  refreshed 
the  following  morning,  they  had  spent  the  hours  of 
their  bodily  repose  together  in  a  palace  of  their  own 
construction,  in  which  they  reviewed  at  will  all  their 
experiences  gained  in  waking  hours.  To  the  man  con 
fined  in  prison  the  woman  who  was  at  large  in  the  world, 
and  travelling  frequently  from  place  to  place  gathering 
up  rich  stores  of  knowledge,  and  seeing  much  of  the 
finest  natural  beauty  as  well  as  art  treasure  which 
Europe  affords,  gave  glowing  descriptions  of  all  the 
beauty  arnid  which  she  freely  roamed;  and  not  only 
could  they  meet  and  talk  it  over,  they  could  behold  it 
vividly  reproduced  in  their  enchanted  mansion  which 
they  built  as  a  model  home,  one  where  they  always  met. 
If  it  be  once  admitted  that  thought  is  substantial,  and 
therefore  we  can  build  palaces  of  thought,  the  unlikeli 
ness  of  such  an  experience  quickly  diminishes  and,  at 
length,  totally  departs.  In  this  day  of  widespread  scep 
ticism  there  is  rapidly  growing  up  as  an  all-sufficient 
cure  for  weary  doubt  a  glorious  PSYCHIC  SCIENCE  which 
is  rapidly  dispelling  the  materialistic  gloom  which  hung 
like  a  sable  pall  over  the  thought  of  the  entire  Western 
Hemisphere  till  within  the  past  very  few  years ;  this  new 
science  is  partially  represented  by  several  varieties  of 
inquirers  into  the  region  of  the  physically  unseen,  but 
so  far  as  we  have  made  their  acquaintance  we  have 


162  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

found  no  body  of  people  undertaking  to  address  them 
selves  practically  to  the  solution  of  the  vast  psychic 
problem  in  its  entirety. 

Perhaps  the  subject  is  too  vast  to  admit  of  universal 
scrutiny,  but  our  opinion  is  that  even  when  prejudice  is 
absent,  the  culture  of  the  psychic  sense  which  is  common 
to  all  mankind  —  though  it  is  undoubtedly  more  active 
in  a  minority  than  in  the  majority  of  persons  —  involves 
more  thorough-going  devotion  of  time  and  attention 
than  superficially  interested  people  are  disposed  to  give 
to  it.  There  are  not  many  persons  who  would  fill  the 
r61e  of  "  Peter  Ibbetson,"  or  "  Duchess  of  Towers  "  ;  thus 
while  directions  for  psychic  development  are  often  given 
in  outline  by  persons  who  have  some  genuine  acquaint 
ance  with  psychometry,  or  an  inner  sense  often  called  a 
sixth,  but  very  few  individuals  profit  largely  by  reading 
even  such  a  story  as  From  the  Old  World  to  the  New, 
by  the  justly  renowned  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  editor  of  the 
Review  of  Reviews,  or  by  perusing  such  really  scientific 
treatises  as  The  Soul  of  Things,  by  William  Denton,  or 
The  Manual  of  Psychometry,  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Buchanan, 
in  which  a  history  is  given  of  a  large  number  of  cases, 
where  this  subtle  sense  of  soul  measurement  has  been 
abundantly  and  accurately  displayed.  The  first  requi 
site  for  the  culture  of  this  hidden  —  though  singularly 
useful,  and,  when  developed,  amazingly  powerful  — 
faculty  is  absolute  concentration  on  a  given  point;  but 
whenever  concentration  is  mentioned,  people  are  all  too 
apt  to  exclaim,  "  Oh  !  I  cannot  concentrate."  Concen 
tration  is  a  habit  and  can  be  acquired,  or  —  to  speak 
more  correctly  —  developed  like  any  other  habit,  the 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  163 

germ  of  which  we  all  possess,  but  which  needs  earnest 
regular  exercise  to  bring  to  actual  perfection,  or  even  to 
a  useful  degree  of  prominence  or  proficiency.  The  great 
mistake  usually  made  is  in  thinking  that  it  is  so  ex 
tremely  difficult  to  concentrate  attention,  that  we  might 
almost  as  well  abandon  the  exercise  at  the  start.  Con 
centration  on  a  beloved  object  is  not  difficult ;  thus,  after 
all,  it  appears  that  lack  of  interest  more  than  of  ability 
lies  at  the  root  of  the  prevailing  deficiency  in  this 
respect.  What  is  concentration,  but  fixed  attention 
centred  on  a  special  occupation?  and  do  not  children 
frequently  concentrate  so  thoroughly  upon  their  play 
that  you  may  call  them  many  times  before  they  hear 
you,  so  engrossed  are  they  in  what  is  to  them  of  absorb 
ing  interest,  while,  to  their  elders,  it  might  seem  tedious 
and  tiresome  in  the  extreme  ?  When  people  are  in  love 
with  each  other,  they  do  not  find  it  irksome  or  a  strain 
to  think  of  one  another,  but  they  would  find  it  very 
hard,  indeed,  to  put  each  other  out  of  mind ;  and  this 
experience  of  lovers  is  not  confined  to  love  between 
persons,  for  science,  art,  business,  or  whatever  has  en 
listed  profound  affection  and  appears  of  paramount 
importance  to  its  devotee,  engages  and  holds  the  atten 
tion  of  its  pursuer  to  the  exclusion  of  all  beside.  Our 
attention  was  called  some  years  ago  to  this  fact  in  the 
most  striking  manner.  A  young  artist,  studying  in 
Paris,  went  one  morning  to  the  Louvre  in  company 
with  several  friends,  with  whom  he  continued  moving 
to  and  fro,  chatting  freely  the  while,  till  suddenly  his 
countenance  became  completely  altered,  almost  trans 
figured,  one  might  say,  as  he  stood  gazing,  with  whole- 


164  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

souled  rapture,  into,  we  cannot  say  upon,  a  singularly 
beautiful  painting  by  one  of  the  famous  old  masters  of 
the  Roman  school ;  for  more  than  thirty  minutes  he 
stood  motionless  before  that  wonderfully  beautiful  and 
singularly  expressive  canvas,  and  then,  heaving  a  deep 
sigh,  he  reluctantly  withdrew  his  gaze  and  said  to  an 
artist  friend,  who  was  one  of  the  party,  "  I  must  and  will 
get  permission  to  copy  that  picture,  and  it  shall  be 
copied  faithfully."  During  a  meal  at  a  restaurant  and 
the  walk  home,  which  followed,  he  would  either  talk  of 
this  only  picture  for  which  he  had  any  thought,  or  lapse 
into  complete  taciturnity.  Permission  was  easily  ob 
tained  for  this  enthusiastic  young  landscape  painter  to 
copy  a  sublime  work  of  the  most  elaborate  character 
introducing  a  number  of  highly  finished  human  por 
traits,  and  he  had  never  painted  a  human  face  or  form 
before.  His  friends,  though  not  displeased  at  his  ambi 
tion,  were  of  the  united  opinion  that  he  had  undertaken 
a  task  far  beyond  his  power  to  execute ;  what,  then, 
must  have  been  their  surprise,  when,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  next  visit  to  the  famous  gallery  for  the  express  pur 
pose  of  beginning  the  work  of  copying  this  wonderful 
chef  d'ceuvre,  he  spent  over  three  hours  in  a  motionless 
attitude,  gazing,  as  he  afterwards  declared,  into  the  very 
soul  of  the  canvas,  and  then  rushed  to  his  studio,  locked 
himself  in,  and  never  appeared  among  his  friends  till  he 
could  bring  with  him,  for  their  amazed  and  delighted 
inspection,  a  perfect  facsimile  of  that  marvellous  produc 
tion,  which  had  so  perfectly  called  into  expression  his 
artistic  soul.  The  experience  of  the  young  man,  while 
gazing  steadfastly  into  the  picture,  gathered  from  his 


BASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  165 

own  words,  was  substantially  as  follows:  "I  stood  no 
longer  on  earth ;  I  was  no  more  confined  to  my  outer 
frame  ;  I  was  a  free  spirit  at  liberty  to  roam  as  I  pleased, 
amid  the  indescribable  glories  of  an  artist's  heaven;  I 
saw  the  real  scenes  which  the  great  master,  when  on 
earth,  had  portrayed  with  so  dexterous  a  hand ;  I  was 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  group  of  immortals,  of  whom 
this  painter  (Correggio)  appeared  as  chief;  he  himself 
was  telling  me  that  in  conjunction  with  his  spirit,  I 
should  reproduce  his  earthly  masterpiece.  As  he  spoke 
and  I  listened  with  reverential  awe,  mingled  with  un 
speakable  gladness,  I  felt  as  though  an  inner  chamber 
of  my  consciousness  had  suddenly  unclosed,  and  I  saw 
reflected  there  the  image  of  the  scene,  which  I  knew 
would  never  again  desert  me  and  which  I  could  speedily 
and  effectively  reproduce.  I  learned,  on  my  return  to 
ordinary  waking  consciousness,  that  I  had  been  en 
tranced  for  three  full  hours,  but  as  it  often  happens 
that  we  dream  in  a  few  seconds  what  seems  to  occupy  a 
lengthened  period,  it  seemed  to  me  that  my  exquisite 
experience  in  the  artist's  heaven  was  but  of  a  very  few 
moments'  duration,  but  it  evidently  lasted  long  enough 
to  so  relate  me  to  it  thenceforward,  that  I  now  feel  as 
though  whenever  I  need  inspiration  for  my  work,  I 
have  but  to  deliberately  shut  out  all  intrusive  worldly 
cares  and  commune  with  invisible  states  alone." 

The  subsequent  career  of  this  remarkable  young  man 
has  thoroughly  justified  the  claim  that  by  perfect  con 
centration  upon  a  given  subject,  when  one's  entire 
affection  is  enlisted,  the  most  complete  result  can  be 
obtained  in  harmony  with  most  adventurous  desire. 


166  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

During  sleep  we  are  practically  dead  to  all  external 
sights  and  sounds ;  when  our  slumber  is  profound  and 
we  have  passed  beyond  what  nurses  have  called  a 
child's  third  sigh,  we  are  as  truly  in  the  spiritual  world 
as  we  should  be  were  we  to  become  finally  divested  of 
our  material  habiliment.  Certain  Methodists  have  pre 
sented  young  people  with  cards  headed,  "  Where  would 
you  go,  were  you  to  die  to-night  ?  "  and  if  an  answer 
were  given  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  spiritual  law 
of  attraction  which  is  universal,  the  reply  would  be : 
"  Exactly  where  I  am  sure  to  go,  provided  I  sleep  pro 
foundly."  The  Bible  and,  indeed,  all  sacred  literature 
and  many  scientific  works  as  well,  contains  numberless 
instances  of  counsel  and  instruction,  received  in  sleep, 
which  could  never  be  obtained  in  a  waking  state.  And 
why  is  it  thus?  Surely  the  answer  is  evident.  Daring 
sixteen  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four  on  an  average, 
we  are  concerned  with  external  forms  of  things ;  even 
if  we  attend  religious  exercises,  hymns,  prayers,  ser 
mons,  etc.,  are  all  addressed  to  the  outer  ear,  and  we 
think  we  must  keep  wide  awake  to  listen,  or  take  part 
in  them ;  therefore,  people  ignorant  of  psychic  science, 
think  they  lose  everything  if  they  fall  asleep  during  a 
service,  and  if  they  are  deaf,  it  does  them  no  good  to 
attend  religious  exercises.  Such  purblind  externality  is 
all  of  a  kind  with  the  gross  materialism  of  the  period, 
which  estimates  everything  in  dollars  and  cramps  utility 
within  the  narrow  limit  of  ministration  to  the  physical 
body.  Various  serious  diseases  and  certainly  chronic 
nervous  prostration  accompanied  by  abject  physical  de 
bility,  can  be  easily  traced  to  this  utter  lack  of  interior 


t)ASHED   AGAINSt   THE  fcOCK.  167 

perception.  Hypnotism  is  a  great  blessing  to  this  age, 
as  it  is  helping  materialists  to  recognize  the  power  of 
thought  silently  conveyed,  while  true  hypnosis  is  not 
putting  people  to  sleep  without,  much  less  against,  their 
will,  but  helping  them  to  obtain  relief  from  insomnia, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  wearing  of  ailments,  and  more 
than  that,  assisting  them  to  reach  a  higher  or  deeper 
state  of  consciousness  than  that  acknowledged  by  the 
majority  during  waking  hours.  Every  third  part  of  our 
time  should  be  devoted  to  rest,  but  rest  and  idleness 
are  widely  distinct.  Man's  organism  is  a  perpetual- 
motion  machine,  and  were  the  machinery  to  stop  run 
ning,  death  of  the  body  would  ensue ;  nature  shows  us 
plainly  enough  that  rest  and  recreation,  but  not  inac 
tivity,  are  what  we  need.  The  beautiful  text,  "God 
giveth  his  beloved  sleep,"  may  be  correctly  translated, 
"  He  giveth  to  his  beloved  while  sleeping,"  and  this 
rendering  harmonizes  with  the  experience  of  the  seers 
of  the  ages.  It  is  strange  that  Bible  students  and 
people  who  found  all  their  belief  upon  the  Bible,  should 
overlook  the  patent  teaching  concerning  illumination 
gained  in  sleep,  which  is  so  abundant  throughout  the 
sacred  canon.  Joseph,  the  foster-father  of  Jesus,  was 
about  to  put  Mary  away  from  him,  till  an  angel  ap 
peared  to  him  in  sleep  and  told  him  to  accept  her  as 
his  honored  wife ;  then  again  the  flight  of  the  holy 
child  with  his  parents  into  Egypt  and  their  return  to 
Palestine  was  all  directed  by  the  experiences  of  a 
dreamer,  who  conversed  with  angels  in  the  night. 
Modern  agnosticism  is  only  reactionary ;  it  is  a  protest 
against  superstition  and  comes  like  a  bracing  wind  to 


168  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

clear  away  fogs  and  disperse  vapors,  but  its  work  is 
nearly  finished,  and  we  are  now  entering  upon  an  age 
of  scientific  spiritualism,  in  which  all  psychic  experi 
ences  will  be  discussed,  in  relation  to  unchanging  law ; 
the  supernatural  element  may  be  eliminated,  even  the 
supernormal  idea  may  pass  away,  but,  however  thor 
oughly  they  are  accounted  for  on  a  scientific  base,  they 
will  be  accepted  and  encouraged.  Nightmare  and  bad 
dreams  are  quite  unnecessary,  and  though  hygienists 
may  attempt  to  account  for  them  as  the  result  of  heavy 
late  suppers,  what  occasions  them  when  a  very  light 
supper,  or  no  supper  at  all,  has  been  eaten?  Meta 
physics  can  alone  account  for  dreaming,  either  false  or 
true,  and  as  false  dreaming  is  the  rule  and  true  dream 
ing  the  exception,  we  seek  to  suggest  a  practical,  effi 
cient  antidote  to  much  prevailing  misery.  "Peter 
Ibbetson "  and  the  "  Duchess  of  Towers "  are  only 
extreme  illustrations  of  what  can  be  universally  dem 
onstrated,  just  as  the  young  artist  referred  to  was  only 
exceptional  in  degree  of  concentration.  Before  we  can 
rely  upon  having  our  own  way  and  going  where  we 
please  in  sleep,  we  must  control  our  thoughts,  while 
awake,  and  the  difficulty  in  so  doing  is  not  permanent ; 
habit  makes  it  easy,  but  persistence  is  necessary  to  suc 
cess.  We  have  a  right  to  our  own  thoughts,  and  to 
keep  what  company  we  please  at  any  time,  and  if  we 
take  a  strong  attitude  of  independence,  no  one  can  long 
continue  to  molest  us,  unless  there  is  a  just  claim  upon 
us,  —  for  example,  an  unsettled  bill ;  in  that  case,  the 
creditor  has  a  right  to  demand  from  the  debtor  a  settle 
ment  of  the  account,  and  if  he  is  a  proficient  telepathist, 
he  can  present  his  claim  mentally,  if  he  chooses. 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  HOCK.  169 

Settle  all  your  debts ;  owe  no  man  anything  but  the 
common  debt  of  universal  love,  and  take  delight  in  pay 
ing  that  continually.  Before  permitting  yourself  to  fall 
asleep,  fix  your  thought  attentively  on  the  sphere  whence 
you  desire  enlightenment.  Compose  yourself  to  the  ex 
tent  of  perfect  tranquillity ;  then  allow  sleep  to  come  to 
you  as  you  are  affirming  with  quiet,  but  strong  expect 
ancy  that  your  desire  will  be  fulfilled.  As  everything 
takes  time  to  grow,  we  do  not  say  you  will  get  supreme 
results  instantly,  but  you  will  draw  ever  nearer  to  a  stu 
pendous  revelation  of  your  own  psychic  possibilities  as 
you  persistently  follow  this  practice  night  after  night. 
If  you  have  any  misunderstanding  with  anybody,  settle 
it  before  you  retire,  if  possible ;  if  you  cannot  reach  the 
person  outwardly,  send  him  a  mental  telegram  wherever 
he  may  be ;  whether  you  know  his  whereabouts  or  not, 
call  his  name  distinctly  in  silence,  and  cable  :  "  You  and 
I  are  at  peace."  Having  thus  removed  what  might  prove 
a  cause  of  serious  disturbance,  you  are  ready  to  fix  your 
thought  entirely  upon  the  subject  of  your  search.  If 
you  wish  to  become  proficient  in  any  art  or  science,  or 
become  familiar  with  the  contents  of  a  literature,  or  the 
details  of  a  business,  you  can  serve  an  apprenticeship  in 
sleep  by  putting  yourself  en  rapport  with  whatever  you 
desire  to  become  familiar  with,  and,  though  for  some 
time  you  may  remember  nothing  definite  in  the  morn 
ing,  you  will  from  the  start  experience  both  mental  arid 
physical  improvement,  as  you  will  feel  refreshed  on 
awaking  as  never  before.  If  you  become  sleepy  any 
where  through  lack  of  interest  or  laziness,  then  it  is 
well  to  arouse  yourself  by  a  determined  mental  effort ; 


170  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  KOCK. 

but  if  when  you  are  deeply  interested  you  fall  asleep, 
or  even  feel  sleepy,  never  resist  the  approach  of  slumber, 
and  if  you  have  believed  that  no  instruction  reaches  us 
in  sleep,  make  the  affirmation  decidedly :  "  I  shall  learn 
whatever  it  is  best  for  me  to  know  and  hold  all  it  is 
useful  for  me  to  keep  " ;  then  let  sleep  come  and  you 
will  absorb  into  your  inner  nature  far  more  than 
you  could  ordinarily  retain  if  you  heard  it  outwardly. 
When  you  have  gone  anywhere  with  a  definite  intention 
and  a  positive  expectation,  you  lose  nothing  by  sleeping, 
provided  you  fall  asleep  when  most  interested ;  it  is, 
therefore,  only  necessary  to  guard  against  sleep  induced 
by  distraction,  for  when  we  are  distracted  by  unwelcome 
thoughts,  falling  asleep  under  such  a  condition  can 
lead  to  no  profitable  outcome.  Not  only  is  it  possible 
to  be  educated  in  sleep ;  we  can  travel  in  sleep.  In  hot 
weather,  if  business  confines  us  in  city  offices,  we  can 
picture  out  the  country  or  seashore  directly  we  are  in 
bed,  and  spend  the  night  in  direct  relation  to  salt  breezes 
or  mountain  air.  If  any  students  find  it  difficult  at 
first  to  rely  entirely  upon  fixity  of  thought,  let  them 
employ  suggestive  outward  aids ;  for  instance,  a  picture, 
or  a  book,  or  a  newspaper  article  bearing  directly  upon 
something  they  wish  to  know  more  about,  or  become 
psychically  related  with,  may  prove  of  great  help.  If 
pictures  in  a  chamber  where  you  have  to  sleep  are  ob 
jectionable,  take  them  down  or  cover  them ;  never  talk 
late  at  night  on  anything  you  would  object  to  dream 
about;  read  in  bed  as  much  as  you  like,  but  carefully 
select  such  literature  as  through  force  of  suggestion 
leads  you  where  you  would  like  to  go.  Never  take  an 


DASHED    AGAINST  THE   BOOK.  171 

unwelcome  room-mate  to  save  expense,  and  never  at 
any  time  allow  yourself  to  be  led  into  disagreeable  con 
versation  just  before  retiring.  These  hints  are  neces 
sary  for  beginners,  but  old  hands  who  have  had  long 
experience  in  DREAMING  TRUE  can  sleep  equally  well 
anywhere,  and  can  afford  to  be  careless  of  their  outer 
surroundings. 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  so  extraordinary  a  discourse 
was  listened  to  with  rapt  attention  by  the  entire  audi 
ence,  and  provoked  considerable  inquiry. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

SOME    EXPERIMENTS    IN    TELEPATHY. 

MRS.  KATZENHEIMER'S  address  opened  the  way  for 
an  all-round  discussion  of  psychic  matters  of  every 
description;  the  proposition  was  hailed  with  universal 
delight  that  some  experiments  in  telepathy  should  be 
conducted  the  following  evening,  and  the  unanimous 
vote  was,  that  Mr.  Collins  and  Mrs.  Katzenheimer 
should,  if  possible,  take  prominent  part  in  the  demon 
strations. 

Mr.  Collins  had  the  great  advantage  over  many,  of 
being  able  to  concentrate  his  mental  gaze  steadily 
on  any  object  he  chose  to  place  before  his  mental 
vision ;  he  was  also  a  young  gentleman  of  considerable 
will  power,  and  one  who,  when  he  determined  to  accom 
plish  anything,  was  rarely  baffled  by  adverse  circum 
stances. 

Mrs.  Katzenheimer  was  quite  favorably  impressed 
with  his  intelligence  and  serenity,  as  she  expressed  it, 
and  as  she  could  never  be  driven  to  do  anything  unwel 
come  to  her,  but  was  quite  easily  persuaded  to  accom 
modate  and  interest  her  neighbors  when  she  was  in  the 
right  mood,  or,  as  she  would  say,  condition,  it  was  agreed 

172 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  173 

that,  on  the  following  evening  at  half-past  eight  pre 
cisely,  all  who  were  really  interested  in  thought  trans 
ference,  and  desired  to  remain  quite  quiet  during  the 
experiments,  should  assemble  in  the  salon. 

So  many  persons  desired  to  witness  these  projected 
experiments  in  what  most  of  them  called  mind-reading, 
that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  a  circle  was  at  length 
arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  Mrs.  Katzenheimer,  who 
showed  decided  repugnance  to  close  proximity  with 
her  audience,  and  insisted  that  no  one  *but  those  she 
individually  selected  and  permitted  should  be  allowed 
to  approach  her  during  the  sSance. 

After  a  committee  of  six  (three  ladies  and  three 
gentlemen)  had  been  chosen  from  the  nearly  two  hun 
dred  who  were  present  in  the  dining-room,  Mr.  Collins 
was  requested  to  commit  to  memory  a  sentence  dictated 
to  him  extemporaneously  by  Dr.  Gustavus  Ferguson, 
a  prominent  physician,  unanimously  chosen  as  the  best 
man  for  the  office.  Not  desiring  to  unnecessarily  com 
plicate  matters,  but  still  being  anxious  to  prevent  any 
likelihood  of  guessing  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Katzen 
heimer,  whom  he  designated  "a  shrewd,  smart  woman, 
with  eyes  like  a  hawk's,  and  unusually  quick  hearing," 
Dr.  Ferguson,  after  locking  her  in  her  stateroom  and 
pocketing  the  key,  returned  to  the  salon  and  repeated 
to  Mr.  Collins,  until  he  could  feel  sure  he  knew  every 
syllable  thoroughly,  the  following  extraordinary  combi 
nation  of  irrelevant  words :  — 

"When  the  hare  runs  a  race,  then  my  hair  grows 
thin ;  when  the  bear  hibernates,  to  bear  burdens  I  begin ; 
when  the  monk  dons  his  cowl,  then  the  monkey  hunts 


174  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

for  fowl;  when  the  horse  ceases  neighing,  I  am 
hoarse,  my  friend  is  saying." 

The  -Comicality  as  well  as  ingenious  alliteration  of 
the  above  ridiculous  but  rather  clever  sentence  provoked 
peals  of  laughter,  and  thereby  served  a  useful  end  by 
inducing  merriment  throughout  the  room,  which,  when 
it  is  not  too  loud,  boisterous,  or  unseemly,  is  far  more 
conducive  to  the  successful  conduct  of  psychical  experi 
ments  than  strained  excitement  or  funereal  gloom. 

Mr.  Collins,  who  was  an  apt  scholar,  soon  learned 
the  funny  doggerel  and  repeated  it  three  times  in  suc 
cession,  to  firmly  impress  it  on  his  memory  and  to  make 
it  seem  to  him  like  an  old,  familiar  rhyme.  After  he 
had  satisfied  himself  and  his  auditors  that  he  was  suffi 
ciently  coached,  Dr.  Ferguson  released  Mrs.  Katzen- 
heimer  and  personally  conducted  her  to  the  salon,  in 
company  with  Dr.  Amelia  Poodlehurst,  another  mem 
ber  of  the  committee  and  an  eminent  specialist  in  cases 
of  nervous  peculiarity. 

Mrs.  Katzenheimer  took  the  seat  provided  for  her 
near  the  piano  quite  leisurely  and  composedly,  and 
after  singing  a  song  to  her  own  accompaniment,  turned 
to  the  committee,  who  formed  a  group  in  her  immedi 
ate  neighborhood,  and  asked  them  to  seat  Mr.  Collins 
exactly  opposite  to  her  in  a  comfortable  chair,  while 
she  retained  possession  of  the  music  stool.  After  Mr. 
Collins  declared  himself  comfortably  seated,  she  re 
quested  him  to  hand  her  some  article  belonging  exclu 
sively  to  himself,  as  she  desired  to  hold  it  in  her  hand 
as  a  link  with  him  to  facilitate  the  experiment.  In 
attempted  compliance  with  her  request,  he  proffered  the 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  175 

use  of  his  pocket-knife,  but  this  she  declared  was  em 
barrassing,  because  he  had  that  very  evening  lent  it  to 
another  gentleman  who  wished  to  sharpen  a  pencil ;  the 
knife  had  therefore  "  contracted  an  aura "  from  this 
other  person.  The  next  proposition  was  that  she 
should  hold  his  pocket-book,  but  this  she  also  refused, 
stating  that  it  was  a  diary  and  memorandum-book  in 
which  he  had  permitted  other  people  to  write  their 
names  and  addresses.  At  length,  after  several  reflec 
tions,  she  finally  accepted  his  necktie,  which  he  de 
clared  was  not  a  new  one  and  had  never  been  worn  by 
anybody  but  himself.  No  stxmer  had  she  "got  ac 
quainted  with  the  cravat,"  to  use  her  own  words,  than 
she  closed  her  eyes  and  slightly  shuddered,  then  began 
to  articulate  very  slowly :  — 

"When  the  hare  runs  a  race,  then  my  hair  grows 
thin,"  and  so  on,  word  for  word,  till  she  reached  the 
end  of  the  long  sentence.  When  she  reached  the  last 
word,  "saying,"  she  was  greeted  with  a  tempestuous 
salvo  of  applause. 

"How  did  she  do  it?  How  could  she  know  it?" 
was  uttered  on  all  sides. 

Mr.  Collins  had  not  touched  her,  but  she  had  looked 
steadily  into  his  eyes  and  he  had  returned  her  gaze 
throughout  her  recitation.  His  statement  was  simply 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  held  the  sentence  firmly  in 
mind,  repeating  it  very  deliberately,  though  silently, 
and  had  felt  himself  literally  generating  and  throwing 
out  a  current  of  human  electricity  direct  to  Mrs.  Katz- 
enheimer,  who  was  voluntarily  receptive  to  his  influ 
ence;  her  statement  fully  corroborated  his,  for  her 


176  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

declaration  was  that  she  had  felt  his  psychic  emanation 
enter  her  eyeballs  and  thence  travel  to  her  brain,  and 
that  instantly  it  reached  the  sensorium,  she  became 
aware  of  the  exact  words  which  this  electric  current 
carried. 

Having  proved  the  fact  of  thought  transfer  so  thor 
oughly  in  this  instance,  it  was  proposed  that  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer  should  read  some  one  else's  mind,  if  she 
would  consent  to  do  so,  but  this  she  steadily  declined 
to  attempt,  saying  that  to  change  the  influence  would 
only  confuse  her  and  nullify  results;  she  was,  how 
ever,  quite  willing  to  try  other  experiments  suggested 
by  the  committee,  provided  Mr.  Collins  continued  to 
serve  as  active  transmitter  of  intelligence  to  her  via  the 
psychic  current. 

The  next  experiment  was  a  far  more  ambitious  one, 
as  it  involved  no  less  than  the  transmission  of  the 
entire  contents  of  a  recent  letter  addressed  to  Dr. 
Ferguson  by  one  of  his  patients,  and  which  he  never 
permitted  to  leave  his  own  hand.  To  accomplish  this 
test,  it  was  decided  that  Dr.  Ferguson  and  Mr.  Collins 
should  retire  together  behind  a  screen  over  which  no 
one  in  the  room  could  peer,  Dr.  Ferguson  holding  his 
letter  immediately  under  the  eyes  of  Mr.  Collins,  but 
retaining  possession  of  it  in  his  own  hands.  At  first 
it  appeared  as  though  no  results  would  follow,  as  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer  became  apparently  entranced,  or  she 
might  have  only  fallen  asleep,  but  she  held  the  neck 
tie  very  firmly  and  breathed  heavily,  as  though  she  were 
not  quite  at  ease.  After  fully  fifteen  minutes  had 
elapsed,  and  the  silence  was  beginning  to  grow  oppres- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  177 

sive,  she  suddenly  started  to  her  feet  and,  with  her  eyes 
tightly  closed,  began  in  a  loud  staccato  voice :  — 

"MY  DEAR  DOCTOR, — I  wish  to  express  my  sincer- 
est  gratitude  to  you  for  all  your  kindness  to  me  and 
my  family  during  our  recent  bereavement,  and  to  tell 
you  that  the  advice  given  to  Alfred  has  been  the  sav 
ing  of  my  dear  nephew's  life.  May  Heaven  shower  its 
blessings  on  you  now  and  ever,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 
your  devoted  friend." 

No  name  could  she  pronounce,  though  she  evidently 
tried  hard  to  grasp  it ;  then,  finding  all  her  efforts  use 
less,  she  proceeded :  — 

"P.S.  I  shall  hope  to  see  you,  as  soon  as  you  return 
to  England,  at  my  country  house  in  —  " 

Again  she  could  get  no  name,  and  after  striving  for 
a  moment  to  finish  the  sentence,  she  sank  back  on  her 
stool,  exclaiming:  — 

"Well,  I  got  it,  but  it  was  a  hard  struggle;  don't 
ask  me  to  do  any  more  this  evening:  I've  reached  my 
limit." 

Dr.  Ferguson  bounced  from  behind  the  screen,  letter 
in  hand,  ready  to  let  every  person  in  the  room  examine 
it;  and  as  he  held  it  up,  that  all  might  see  it  as  quickly 
as  possible,  it  was  soon  discovered,  to  everybody's  un 
bounded  satisfaction,  that  every  word  which  had  met 
Mr.  Collins'  eyes  had  been  exactly  repeated  by  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer,  and  in  order  not  to  betray  a  patient's 
confidence,  Dr.  Ferguson  had  completely  erased  from 
the  paper  the  name  of  his  correspondent,  and  also  the 
location  of  her  country  residence. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  additional  proof  of  per- 


178  DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

feet  telepathy  overwhelmed  any  lingering  vestiges  of 
scepticism  which  might  have  outlived  the  former  evi 
dence,  convincing  though  that  was ;  and  as  Dr.  Fergu 
son  was  a  reputable,  regular,  somewhat  conservative 
physician,  of  the  highest  standing  professionally  and 
socially,  and  well  known  to  many  of  the  most  distin 
guished  persons  in  the  audience,  no  question  was  raised 
as  to  even  a  possibility  of  collusion.  But  while  no  one 
appeared  to  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  phenomenon, 
many  were  the  inquiries  made  into  its  origin,  and  par 
ticularly  concerning  the  part  played  by  Mr.  Collins. 
It  was  Mrs.  Throgmorton,  whose  delight  knew  no 
bounds,  who  became  the  mouthpiece  of  the  company  in 
propounding  the  following  inquiry :  — 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Katzenheimer,  do  please  enlighten 
us  on  this  one  point,  which  seems  a  little  obscure  to 
most  of  us :  how  did  you  get  a  mental  message  of  such 
length  and  with  such  perfect  accuracy  from  a  gentle 
man  who  is  almost  a  stranger  to  you,  and  between 
whom  and  yourself  I  understand  there  is  nothing  but 
a  slight  acquaintanceship,  and  not  even  that  till  yes 
terday  ?  Why  would  not  some  other  person  in  the  room 
have  answered  just  as  well  ?  And  do  tell  us  of  what 
special  benefit  the  necktie  was  to  you  ?  " 

"To  answer  such  questions  fully,"  responded  Mrs. 
Katzenheimer,  "would  require  far  more  knowledge 
than  I  possess,  but  so  far  as  I  can,  I  will  gladly  en 
lighten  you.  Mr.  Collins  possesses  two  distinguishing 
traits  which  render  him  particularly  well  adapted  to 
fill  the  r81e  he  has  so  ably  filled  this  evening.  In  the 
first  place,  he  is  unusually  self-centred,  and  can  with- 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  179 

stand  the  temptation  to  mental  distraction  far  better 
than  most  people;  in  the  second  place,  he  can  project 
his  thought  clearly  and  decisively,  I  may  say  that  his 
mental  articulation  is  singularly  distinct.  Then  as  to 
myself,  his  electro-magnetic  effluence  does  not  irritate 
me,  as  he  is  not  in  the  least  hysterical,  and  most  men 
are,  as  well  as  women,  though  our  sex  is  usually  ac 
credited  with  a  monopoly  of  hysterical  tendencies." 

At  this  decided  opinion  on  hysteria  there  was  much 
laughter,  many  of  the  gentlemen  present  being  twitted 
by  their  wives  or  sisters  with  their  decidedly  hysterical 
conduct  on  many  occasions,  while  good-natured  banter 
on  all  sides  kept  alive  the  mirthful  element  which  had 
reigned  so  conspicuously  when  the  proceedings  opened. 

The  hour  having  grown  much  later  than  any  of  the 
company  supposed  it  had,  and  early  hours  being  the 
rule  on  shipboard,  a  most  edifying  as  well  as  entertain 
ing  evening  was  suddenly  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
captain  good-naturedly  reminding  his  passengers  that 
lights  must  be  lowered  and  further  conversation  re 
served  for  the  deck  on  the  morrow. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

A   GLIMPSE   OF   THE   COLUMBIAN   EXPOSITION. 

THE  City  of  Alexandria,  after  a  delightful  passage, 
reached  the  New  York  landing-stage  on  the  evening  of 
the  eighth  day  after  leaving  Liverpool,  and  quickly 
deposited  its  three  hundred  cabin  passengers,  two- 
thirds  at  least  of  whom  were  desirous  of  proceeding  to 
Chicago  as  quickly  as  the  fastest  express  trains  could 
carry  them.  The  trip  from  New  York  to  Chicago  occu 
pies  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  hours,  according  to 
the  route  selected.  The  Niagara  Falls  route  is  the  one 
most  frequently  chosen  by  English  tourists,  as  it  affords 
special  opportunity  to  view  the  magnificent  cataract 
without  losing  any  time  or  involving  any  extra  expense. 

Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  with  Madame  Discalcelis,  Mr. 
Eastlake-Gore,  and  Professor  Monteith,  went  immedi 
ately  on  arrival  to  the  Hotel  Martin  in  University 
Place,  where  they  found  the  finest  accommodations  at 
reasonable  prices,  comparing  favorably  with  a  good 
Parisian  hostelry.  The  Martin  is  a  thoroughly  French 
house  and  provides  as  good  a  table  d'hdte  as  one  is 
likely  to  find  even  in  Paris ;  the  rooms  are  light  and 
sunny,  and  the  service  is  in  all  respects  admirable. 

180 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  181 

New  York  presented  so  many  attractions  that,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  urgent  desire  of  every  member  of  the 
party  to  reach  the  Fair  grounds  as  soon  as  possible,  two 
weeks,  rather  than  two  days,  would  have  been  the  proba 
ble  limit  of  their  stay  in  the  great  metropolis  of  the 
United  States.  In  many  respects  New  York  compares 
favorably  with  European  capitals;  all  it  lacks  is  the 
sense  of  age  and  repose  which  can  only  be  developed  in 
conditions  remote  from  the  life  of  this  period  and 
among  people  who  are  untouched  with  the  burning 
fever  for  rapid  change  which  is  so  singularly  character 
istic  of  these  last  strange  years  of  the  eventful  nine 
teenth  century. 

The  trip  to  Chicago  was  delightful.  The  perfectly 
appointed  Pullman  vestibuled  trains  make  travelling  a 
genuine  luxury  for  all  who  can  afford  to  purchase  first- 
class  tickets;  but  the  second-class  accommodation  to 
and  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  Chicago  was  so 
wretchedly  inadequate,  that  in  almost  every  instance  it 
necessitated  tourists  sitting  bolt  upright  in  ordinary 
day  coaches  during  the  whole  of  one  or  two  nights,  as 
well  as  throughout  the  long  and  tedious  days  of  their 
cramped,  fatiguing  journey. 

Never  in  the  history  of  European  travel  has  aristoc 
racy,  or,  more  correctly,  plutocracy,  been  more  efficiently 
and  steadily  catered  for  than  in  democratic  America 
during  the  term  of  the  great  Columbian  Exposition.  In 
almost  every  instance  the  golden  calf  was  most  pom 
pously  adored,  and  with  what  result?  No  sooner  had 
the  Fair  closed,  than  a  period  of  unprecedented  distress 
commenced  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Jackson  Park, 


182  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

where,  had  another  and  nobler  policy  been  pursued, 
unexampled  prosperity  might  have  been  inaugurated 
to  reign  supreme.  Financial  depression  is  quite  un 
necessary;  it  is  only  the  miserable  result  of  stupid 
blundering.  But  so  long  as  selfishness  is  permitted  to 
hold  control,  and  false  distinctions  between  classes  and 
masses  are  permitted,  there  can  be  no  panacea  applied ; 
so  palliation  is  the  best  expedient  resorted  to,  and 
benefactors  of  their  less  fortunate  brethren  must,  we 
suppose,  be  encouraged  to  fatten  their  own  self-esteem 
at  the  dire  expense  of  the  beneficiaries'  self-respect. 
The  policy  pursued  by  the  American  railroads  during 
the  first  three  months  of  the  Exposition  was  simply 
idiotic.  Had  the  directors  of  the  various  lines  been 
hopeless  imbeciles,  their  conduct  could  not  have  been 
more  unreasoning,  and  no  higher  compliment  can 
honestly  be  paid  to  the  great  army  of  householders, 
boarding-table  keepers,  restaurateurs,  and  others,  all  of 
whom  conspired  to  adopt  so  ruinous  and  senseless  a 
line  of  proceeding  that  their  united  efforts  certainly 
succeeded  in  keeping  millions  from  the  Fair,  while  the 
interest  of  everybody  was  only  to  be  served  by  attract 
ing  the  multitude,  who,  instead  of  receiving  induce 
ments  to  attend,  were  successfully  scared  into  keeping 
away  till  the  original  policy  was  rescinded;  then, 
though  the  crowds  came  and  the  gate  receipts  doubled, 
trebled,  and  quadrupled,  the  remaining  term  of  the 
Exposition's  brief  but  brilliant  life  was  far  too  short 
to  undo  all  the  mischief  which  had  previously  been 
accomplished. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  in  censure  of  the  follies 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  183 

indulged  in  by  citizens  and  transportation  companies, 
no  one  who  ever  saw  the  Fair  can  forget,  no  matter  how 
long  he  lives  or  what  he  sees  after  it,  the  magnificence 
of  the  White  City  on  the  border  of  Lake  Michigan,  when 
viewed  from  the  lake  itself.  The  Fair  was  all  and  more 
than  all  that  any  who  visited  it  had  right  or  reason  to 
expect, —  a  veritable  poem  in  architecture,  a  dream 
materialized,  it  stood  out  as  an  embodied  fulfilment  of 
some  marvellous  vision  granted  to  a  seer  whose  eyes 
must  have  gazed  upon  fairer  human  workmanship  than 
this  planet  in  its  present  stage  can  boast. 

As  all  our  party  preferred  to  go  by  water  to  the 
grounds  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  visit,  that  they 
might  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the 
scene  gradually  as  they  approached  it,  when  they  actu 
ally  landed  in  the  Park  in  the  very  midst  of  its  thou 
sand  activities,  they  were  at  once  familiar  with  the  lay 
of  the  land,  and  felt  quite  at  home  among  its  almost 
bewildering  maze  and  labyrinth  of  palaces  and  walks. 

It  was  the  tout  ensemble  which  impressed  every  intelli 
gent  observer  at  first.  The  wonderful  congruity  evolved 
from  strangely  diverse  shapes  and  substances  appealed 
instantly  to  the  artistic  sense ;  the  eye  was  delighted, 
but  not  wearied  with  the  view,  for  there  was  resem 
blance  enough  between  the  larger  buildings  to  make 
them  appear  at  home  as  members  of  the  same  family 
circle,  and  diversity  enough  to  give  each  structure  a 
characteristic  individuality  peculiarly  its  own.  And 
then,  the  smaller  buildings  containing  the  special  ex 
hibits  of  different  nations  were  so  picturesque  and  rep 
resentative  that,  though  they  were  in  many  instances 


184  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

of  strange,  irregular  design,  not  one  of  them  jarred  upon 
the  common  sense  of  unity  which  was  the  keynote  to 
the  whole.  Descriptions  and  views  of  the  various  edi 
fices  and  their  contents  have  been  so  widely  distrib 
uted  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  add  anything  of 
interest  to  such  an  oft-told  tale ;  still,  there  are  special 
features  which  strongly  appeal  to  one  tourist,  which 
another  passes  by  with  scarce  a  word  or  thought.  For 
this  reason  every  historian  of  the  Exposition  has  done 
something  peculiarly  his  own  to  help  the  White  City 
to  live  perennially  in  the  minds  of  all  who,  if  not  privi 
leged  to  have  seen,  have  not  missed  an  opportunity  to 
read,  of  its  glory  and  its  doom. 

As  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore  hated  unseemly  bustle,  and 
had  always  been  accustomed  to  live  quietly  and  ele 
gantly  in  her  own  home,  and  as  she  had  the  wisdom  to 
make  a  home  to  her  liking  wherever  she  went,  she 
avoided  all  noisy  hotels  and  rickety  World's  Fair  lodg 
ing  and  boarding  houses,  preferring  to  rent  a  comfort 
able  cottage  in  the  most  retired  part  of  Englewood, 
where  she  and  Madame  Discalcelis  could  enjoy  home 
privacy  and  freedom,  and  yet  be  within  easy  access  of 
the  Exposition  whenever  they  chose  to  attend  it. 

Three  days  after  reaching  Chicago,  the  two  ladies, 
with  one  servant,  were  as  much  at  home  in  their  quiet 
cottage  on  the  outskirts  of  Chicago  as  they  had  been  in 
their  beautiful  suburban  villa  in  the  British  metropo 
lis  ;  but  for  the  privilege  of  this  furnished  retreat,  with 
service  of  the  maid  attached  to  the  premises  included, 
they  paid  five  hundred  dollars  for  little  more  than  two 
months,  commencing  with  August  23  and  ending  with 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  185 

October  31,  when  the  great  Fair  closed,  and  rents  im 
mediately  fell  to  zero,  or  families  returned  to  reoccupy 
their  own  accustomed  habitations. 

Professor  Monte ith  and  Mr.  Eastlake-Gore,  who 
were  both  deeply  interested  and  also  well  versed  in  the 
practical  workings  of  electricity,  spent  days  at  a  time 
in  the  Electrical  Exhibit,  and  then  when  they  desired 
a  change,  they  betook  themselves  to  the  Palace  of  Fine 
Arts,  or  strolled  up  and  down  the  boulevard  facing  the 
ocean-like  lake,  —  whose  waves  in  windy  weather  were 
like  the  billows  of  the  tempestuous  sea,  —  discussing 
each  new  problem  as  it  presented  itself  to  the  fertile 
fancy  of  the  younger  man,  who  was  always  the  first  to 
see  a  possibility,  while  his  elder  and  far  graver  com 
panion  could  work  out  better  than  he  the  mechanical 
details  necessary  to  its  final  ultimation. 

Madame  Discalcelis  was  not  so  much  interested  in 
mechanical  achievements  as  the  gentlemen  were,  nor 
did  she  express  any  longing  to  rise  early  and  retire 
late,  day  after  day,  week  in  and  week  out,  as  many 
ladies  did,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  everything  and  probably 
remembering  next  to  nothing.  Her  method  was  to  rise 
at  a  reasonable  hour  in  the  morning,  breakfast  alone 
in  her  private  apartment  on  rolls  and  chocolate,  spend 
the  morning  in  any  way  which  appeared  on  that  par 
ticular  morning  most  pleasant  and  desirable,  lunch 
with  Mrs.  Gore  about  half-past  one  or  two  o'clock,  then 
proceed  to  the  Fair  grounds  with  her  kind  hostess,  pro 
vided  they  both  desired  to  go  there,  which  was  by  no 
means  daily.  The  Woman's  Building  attracted  them 
greatly ;  so  did  the  Convent  of  La  Rabida,  containing, 


186  DASttED  AGAlNSt    THE  ROCK. 

as  it  did,  so  many  priceless  relics  of  Columbus  and  his 
period ;  but  the  Fine  Arts  Building  was  ever  the  Mecca 
toward  which  their  steps  were  finally  turned. 

To  describe  the  wealth  of  artistic  treasures  in  that 
sumptuous  palatial  structure,  designed  after  the  model 
of  a  vast  Athenian  palace,  would  be  indeed  well-nigh 
impossible;  suffice  it  therefore  to  say,  that  no  finer 
collection  of  paintings  and  statuary  could  well  be 
imagined.  Artists  of  all  schools  and  of  all  nations 
were  liberally  and  quite  impartially  represented,  and 
no  one  who  could  in  any  measure  respond  to  the  appeal 
of  the  sublimely  beautiful  could  leave  those  glorious 
precincts  without  carrying  away  with  him  the  truly 
salutary,  elevating,  ennobling  effect  of  a  baptism  in 
the  limpid  waters  of  the  river  of  pure  beauty  which, 
though  but  feebly  reflected  in  terrestrial  moulds,  is  in 
its  essence  and  ministry  the  most  perfect  link  between 
earth  and  heaven,  the  human  and  the  divine. 

Madame  Discalcelis  was  a  prophetess  in  the  Temple 
of  Beauty;  she  believed  in  its  hallowing,  uplifting 
power,  as  did  the  Greeks  of  old  in  the  palmiest  days  of 
Grecian  thought  and  culture  prior  to  the  demoraliza 
tion  which  succeeded;  and  though  she  freely  admitted 
that,  when  depraved  by  becoming  purely  sensuous  and 
devoted  to  base  ends,  even  the  greatest  outward  loveli 
ness  might  be  ensnaring  and  calculated  to  lead  the  soul 
of  man  downward  instead  of  upward,  she  was  far  too 
wise  a  woman,  as  well  as  too  gifted  a  seeress,  to  give  the 
smallest  place  in  her  creed  to  the  benighted  theories  of 
those  ascetic  pessimists  who  consider  it  essential  to 
moral  attainment  to  crush  out  the  love  of  beauty  and 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  187 

make  bare  and  loveless  the  external  world  which,  when 
in  order  it  fulfils  its  Creator's  beneficent  design,  re 
flects  the  transcendent  glory  of  the  spiritual  realm  — 
which  is  altogether  symmetrical  in  its  celestial  inmost 
—  as  a  clear,  pellucid  stream  shadows  forth  in  perfect 
outline,  true  at  every  point,  the  forms  of  grace  and 
stateliness  which  mirror  their  majestic  faces  in  its 
crystal  depths. 

After  visiting  the  Fair  about  a  dozen  times,  and  meet 
ing  there  occasionally  some  very  interesting  people, 
Mrs.  Gore  discovered  a  pretty  nook  in  the  Wooded 
Island  where,  except  on  evenings  when  there  were 
special  illuminations,  a  party  of  congenial  friends 
could  spend  a  quiet  hour  entirely  to  themselves.  On 
one  of  the  occasions  when  a  little  group  of  sympathiz 
ing  friends  had  collected  in  this  delightful  sylvan  re 
treat,  so  near  and  yet  so  far  from  the  constant  bustle  of 
the  throngs  of  sight-seers,  several  of  the  ladies,  all  of 
whom  had  felt  that  Madame  Discalcelis  was  no  ordi 
nary  person,  requested  her  to  give  them  her  idea  of 
what  particular  exhibits  at  the  Fair  were  most  beauti 
ful  and  instructive,  and  also  to  favor  them,  if  she 
would,  with  some  impressions  of  her  own.  To  this 
request,  as  they  were  quite  a  private  party,  she  con 
sented  without  reluctance,  and  in  a  quiet,  easy  manner 
expressed  herself  as  follows:  — 

"  The  World's  Fair  is  not  something  which  can  be 
easily  described  or  'written  up '  in  a  few  terse  para 
graphs.  It  grows  upon  the  thoughtful  visitor  day  by 
day,  as  all  great  creations  grow,  so  that,  after  many 
visits,  the  explorer  feels  more  deeply  impressed  with 


188  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK. 

its  colossal  magnificence  than  aft'er  few.  The  Fair 
suggests  to  me  in  some  faint,  far-off,  dreamy  manner  a 
new  and  nobler  state  of  society  than  any  condition  we 
have  yet  realized.  I  cannot  say  that  it  strikes  me  as 
in  any  degree  perfect ;  there  is  far  too  much  noise,  con 
fusion,  and  bustling  to  convey  anything  like  the  idea 
of  a  perfected  social  condition.  Still,  when  one's 
eyes  feast  upon  the  glory  of  the  scene  at  eventide,  all 
the  imposing  structures  and  the  banks  of  the  canals 
lit  up  with  thousands  of  electric  lamps,  the  music  of 
the  bands  reaching  the  contemplative  listener  from  a 
distance  of,  say,  half  a  mile,  the  garishness  of  the  day 
scene  is  entirely  absent,  the  strife  of  tongues  and 
clatter  of  hurrying  feet  are  forgotten,  and  only  the  ideal 
beauty  of  the  vision  remains  with  the  spectator.  Those 
of  you  who  know  me  to  any  extent,  are  too  well  ac 
quainted  with  my  theory  of  rest  to  be  surprised  when  I 
pronounce  the  conduct  of  most  sight-seers  completely 
idiotic.  Many  there  are  who  daily  rush  frantically 
from  building  to  building,  from  early  morning  till  late 
at  night,  and  see  almost  nothing,  while  the  few  who 
behave  sensibly  and  enjoy  their  visits  to  the  great  Fair 
are  never  exhausted,  and  they  see  nearly  everything, 
and  what  is  still  more  to  the  point,  they  carry  away 
with  them  graphic  memory  pictures  of  what  they  have 
beheld.  I  am  not  a  convert  to  Buddhism,  though  it  is 
so  fashionable  at  present  in  America,  nor  am  I  any  sort 
of  an  Oriental  enthusiast.  I  do  not  worship  at  any  of 
the  shrines  of  Arya,  but  for  all  that,  I  would  far  rather 
resemble  the  calm  Asiatic  who  mildly  tells  the  excited 
Westerner  that  rest  is  more  important  than  bustle,  than 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  189 

be  numbered  among  the  restless,  peaceless  throng  who 
rise  early  and  retire  late  to  gratify  nothing  but  hysteria, 
and  pay  for  their  dissipation  with  aching  heads  and 
weary  limbs.  To  me  the  dream-side  of  the  Fair  is  its 
beauty-side.  We  can  see  canned  fruits  on  Oxford 
Street  in  London,  and  if  we  desire  a  shopping  tour, 
Regent  Street  is  nearer  by  four  thousand  miles  than 
Chicago ;  but  I  may  search  London  in  vain  for  a  picture 
like  that  upon  which  I  have  already  gazed  times  with 
out  number,  when  I  have  taken  my  favorite  seat  front 
ing  the  lagoon  an  hour  or  so  after  sunset,  and  watched 
the  electric  glow  deepen  and  brighten,  till  from  a  few 
faint  jets  of  promise  there  arises,  to  glorify  the  wondrous 
scene,  a  burst  of  illumination  which  defies  description." 

"But  my  dear  poetess,"  broke  in  the  staccato  tones 
of  Mrs.  Lumley  Calhoun  (a  distinguished  writer  for 
one  of  the  New  York  dailies),  "I  suppose  even  you 
admire  the  Electrical  Exhibit ;  you,  who  are  so  enthusi 
astic  on  the  subject  of  electricity,  surely  could  not  fail 
to  admire  that  exhibit." 

"Yes,"  answered  the  unimpassioned  dreamer,  as  her 
friends  often  styled  her,  "  I  admire  it,  but  more  for  what 
it  betokens  than  for  anything  it  now  reveals.  It  is 
certainly  very  wonderful  and  very  beautiful,  but  it  is 
not  by  any  means  the  ideal  attained,  and  scarcely  is  it  an 
ideal  suggested.  To  me  the  prospective  triumphs  of 
electrical  science  are  so  infinitely  beyond  the  meagre 
exhibitions  presented  by  ordinary  mechanics,  that  while 
I  hail  with  intense  delight  even  this  poor  prelude  to 
the  electrical  anthem  of  the  future,  I  cannot  cheat  my 
self,  when  I  know  that  I  am  only  standing  in  a  vestibule, 


190  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

into  the  belief  that  I  am  already  within  the  most  sacred 
enclosure  of  a  splendid  temple.  The  Electrical  Exhibit 
is  no  doubt  educational  beyond  all  the  others  for  the 
masses,  but  to  an  ambitious  explorer  in  the  electrical 
field,  it  is  in  many  respects  quite  sadly  disappointing. 
The  one  ever-recurring,  unanswered  question  in  my 
mind  is,  If  you  can  do  thus  much,  why  not  immeasura 
bly  more  ?  I  agree  with  Count  Mattei  and  his  intelli 
gent  disciples,  that  with  electricity  all  things  are 
possible,  but  where  are  the  electricians  to  demonstrate 
the  higher  possibilities  ?  Verily  do  we  all  receive  that 
for  which  we  ask ;  we  find  only  what  we  seek,  and  no 
other  door  opens  for  us  than  the  one  upon  which  we 
knock;  consequently,  if  commercial  advantage  is  the 
measure  of  desired  attainment,  the  richer  and  more 
truly  beneficent  demonstrations  of  electric  force  cannot 
be  forthcoming.  Enterprise  and  ingenuity  have  done 
much;  purely  philanthropic  exertion  will  do  far  more." 
As  the  quiet,  earnest  words  of  this  almost  sphinx- 
like,  though  singularly  earnest  woman  died  away, 
there  seemed  a  quiet  hush  in  the  grove,  as  though  a 
subtle  unseen  presence  had  been  recently  manifesting 
and  just  retired.  Such  a  sequence  was  not  uncommon 
when  Madame  Discalcelis  had  been  drawn  into  an 
important  conversation  and  had  expressed  her  views 
freely  on  a  vital  question.  This  sense  of  a  presence 
was  rather  perplexing  to  the  sceptical  and  worldly 
disposed  members  of  the  gathering,  but  to  those  who 
longed  for  something  deeper  than  soirees  and  dinners, 
it  came  as  an  almost  tantalizing  hint  of  something 
vaguely  desired  but  certainly  unattained,  and  which 
for  them  might  be  practically  unattainable. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ARE  WE  NOT  ALL   BRETHREN?      HATH    NOT    ONE    GOD 
CREATED    US? 

"  THE  shadows  of  a  lovely  early  autumn  evening  were 
slowly  gathering  over  the  White  City,  whose  days,  I 
regret  to  feel,  are  now  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close,  when 
before  my  enraptured  eyes  a  vision  of  almost  more  than 
earthly  glory  transfigured  the  entire  scene,  rendering 
the  beautiful  structures  all  the  more  fascinating  because 
of  the  veil  of  mystery  which  the  approaching  darkness 
cast  over  them  all.  I  was  alone  by  the  lake,  yes,  per 
fectly  alone  so  far  as  mortal  companionship  is  con 
cerned,  though  there  were  many  thousands  of  my  fel 
lows  within  the  gates,  but  I  saw  them  not  nor  did  I 
hear  them.  I  was,  however,  in  no  trance;  I  knew 
exactly  what  I  was  doing,  and  I  had  a  definite  purpose 
in  all  my  movements,  but  I  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
contact  with  my  entimed  and  enspaced  companions. 
Slowly  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  sank  into  the 
waters  of  the  lake,  and  then  I  was  no  more  alone,  for 
there  stood  beside  me  a  form  of  such  exquisite  and  in 
describable  loveliness  that  to  say  more  than  that  she 
was  divinely,  perfectly  human  would  be  to  utter  sacri 
lege.  I  shall  not  seek  to  describe  a  form  that  is  beyond 

191 


192  DASHED  AGAltfST  THE  ROCK. 

description,  nor  attempt  to  reduce  to  cold  words  the 
thrill  of  ecstasy  which  filled  me  till  I  felt  lifted  above 
all  things.  Softly,  caressingly,  as  a  mother  might 
fondle  her  first-born,  a  hand  was  laid  upon  my  eyes,  and 
a  voice,  liquid  and  sweet  as  the  music  of  a  fairy  foun 
tain,  said  to  me,  'BEHOLD.-'  I  turned  my  eyes  to  the 
waters,  where  but  a  moment  before  the  sun  had  linger- 
ingly  kissed  the  far  horizon  ere  he  departed  out  of 
sight,  and  I  beheld  another  sun  whose  rays  emitted 
cadences  of  song  as  well  as  iris-hued  shafts  of  light. 
Into  the  centre  of  that  mildly  refulgent  orb  I  gazed 
even  till  I  peered  into  the  precincts  of  the  Great  White 
City  of  the  Central  Sphere,  whence  all  that  is  fair, 
pure,  and  beautiful  in  its  feeble  earthly  satellite  derives 
its  impetus  of  thought,  to  be  made  manifest  in  beauty. 
Here  I  saw  the  actual  reality  of  what  had  seemed  to  me 
before  only  a  magnificent  probability ;  here  I  saw  the 
embodied  beauty  of  the  stupendous  idea  suggested  in 
the  creedal  phrase  One  Holy  Catholic  Church.  From 
my  childhood  I  had  been  dazed,  bewildered,  with  the 
blind  assumptions  of  those  unknowing  prelates  who 
would  narrow  the  church  of  God  to  an  organization 
whose  members  could  be  counted,  and  outside  of  whose 
visible  pale  there  is  no  safety  and  possibly  no  salva 
tion.  I  had  visited  the  Mosque  on  the  Midway  Plai- 
sance  that  very  afternoon  but  two  hours  earlier,  and 
had  wondered  in  a  dim  way  what  would  be  the  fate 
hereafter  of  those  who  embrace  the  crescent  but  reject 
the  cross.  What,  think  you,  was  my  surprise  to  see  in 
that  celestial  territory  a  company  of  Arabs  in  the  pos 
ture  of  prayer,  surrounded  with  light  which  took  ores- 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  193 

cent  form  as  it  encircled  their  persons  ?  In  the  midst  of 
this  City  in  the  heavens,  and  over  these  Arabs  as  over  all 
others  whom  I  saw  there,  the  light  which  shed  a  mellow 
radiance  everywhere  was  in  shape  both  cross  and  crown. 
I  saw  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  stairway  of  electric 
light  connecting  this  group  of  transfigured  Arabs  with 
the  great  mosque  of  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople  and 
with  other  temples  devoted  to  Islam  throughout  the 
world ;  and  as  the  light  reached  the  truly  faithful  among 
those  who  call  the  Eternal  by  the  name  of  Allah,  the 
light  spoke  to  them,  and  it  breathed  into  their  hearts 
the  words:  ALL-HOLY  AND  ALL-MERCIFUL.  I  gazed 
again,  and  among  the  Bedouins  of  the  desert  I  beheld 
many  who  had  received  it,  and  they  heard  the  words : 
ALL-POWERFUL  BUT  ALL-MERCIFUL;  and  wherever  I 
turned,  gazing  toward  any  quarter  of  the  earth,  I  saw 
there  were  those  in  all  and  outside  of  all  systems  of 
religion  who  heeded  the  sacred  intonation.  To  those 
who  listened  to  obey  among  the  Moslems,  he  who  was 
once  known  as  Mahomet  was  sent  with  the  message : 
'Allah  alone  is  great,  and  Mahomet  was  one  of  His 
messengers,  but  God's  messengers  are  numberless  and 
they  are  everywhere ; '  and  as  the  sacred  light  de 
scended  on  these  receptive  ones,  they  said  one  to  the 
other,  —  I  know  not  that  they  spake  save  in  thought, 
—  'We  too  will  be  merciful,  for  mercy  endureth  for 
ever.'  My  unspoken  question,  'Are  these  Arabs  re 
deemed  who  know  not  Christ?'  was  answered,  oh! 
so  sweetly  and  so  convincingly  by  the  radiant  pres 
ence  at  my  side,  'He  who  loveth  his  brother  whom  he 
hath  seen  loveth,  even  though  he  knoweth  him  not,  the 


194  DASHED   AGAINST  THE   KOCK. 

God  whom  he  hath  not  seen,  and  whosoever  loveth  is 
born  of  God.'  But  what  of  belief?  I  queried.  Then 
the  presence  answered  me,  'Love  is  greater  than  knowl 
edge  and  containeth  faith  which  obtaineth  salvation.' 
The  vision  faded.  I  stood  alone,  but  yet  not  alone ;  for 
humanity  was  with  me,  and  I  felt  the  touch  of  universal 
kinship  as  never  before." 

So  spake  Madame  Discalcelis  in  answer  to  the  ques 
tion  of  an  earnest  but  tired-looking  little  woman  who 
lingered  after  the  group  had  scattered,  to  implore  a 
personal  response  from  Visalia  to  the  deep  questioning 
which  had  been  tormenting  her  sensitive  spirit  for  the 
past  three  weeks  by  reason  of  the  blind,  blasphemous 
teaching  of  a  narrow-minded,  impudent  ecclesiastic, 
who,  while  officiating  in  the  church  she  regularly  at 
tended,  had  taken  occasion  to  villify  the  Parliament  of 
Religions  then  in  session  in  Chicago,  and  declare  from 
the  pulpit  to  his  simple-minded,  easily  befooled,  be 
cause  unthinking  congregation,  that  it  was  a  heinous 
offence  in  the  sight  of  the  Almighty  to  even  listen  to 
the  arguments  of  men  who  knew  not  Christianity  and 
dared  to  affirm  that  God  had  spoken  to  the  human  race 
in  any  other  way  than  through  one  or  other  of  the 
sixty-six  documents  which  "orthodoxy"  in  England 
and  America  regard  as  constituting  the  sum-total  of 
"God's  most  holy  word." 

Mrs.  Phoebe  Blessing  Oyster  was  a  pious  New  Eng 
land  Congregationalist,  who  from  her  youth  had  taken 
active  part  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  though  she 
could  never  quite  understand  how  it  turned  out  that, 
Christian  "orthodoxy"  being  absolutely  necessary  to 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  195 

the  eternal  salvation  of  immortal  souls,  those  who  de 
clared  it  to  be  so  quite  complacently  deposited  one 
dollar  annually  in  the  box  or  plate,  for  saving  the 
heathen  from  sempiternal  torment,  and  then  coolly  in 
vested  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  a  sealskin  sacque 
to  adorn  a  "perishable  house  of  clay,"  —  an  epithet 
they  always  humbly  and  piously  applied  to  their  own 
physical  organisms.  Of  late  Mrs.  Oyster  had  been 
sorely  puzzled,  and  since  she  had  been  in  Chicago  visit 
ing  the  Fair,  mingling  with  Orientals,  sitting  down 
with  Jews  to  dinner  at  her  boarding-place,  and  hearing 
Mahometanism  discussed  as  one  of  the  "  inspired  "  re 
ligions,  she  felt  dazed  and  sick  at  heart.  She  knew 
not  where  to  turn  for  advice  or  consolation;  modern 
books  perplexed  her,  and  her  worried  brain  utterly 
refused  to  unravel  the  tangled  skein  of  difficulties  in 
which  she  felt  herself  hopelessly  enmeshed.  But 
though  till  the  moment  of  her  interview  with  Madame 
Discalcelis  she  had  felt  herself  in  a  cul  de  sac,  no  sooner 
had  the  gifted  authoress  recited  her  own  sweet,  true 
visionary  experience  than  poor  Mrs.  Oyster  burst  into 
tears  of  relief  and  gratitude. 

"Ah,"  she  exclaimed,  "I  see  now  I  have  distrusted 
God  while  I  have  idolized  those  self-appointed  blind 
ones  who  teach  us  contrary  to  all  our  instinctive  faith 
as  well  as  reason,  that  creed  is  greater  than  deed  and 
that  salvation  depends  upon  belief  in  Christ  in  so 
horrible  a  way  that  in  order  to  believe  in  him  we  are 
compelled  to  dissent  from  all  that  is  most  beautiful  in 
his  recorded  utterance.  My  dear  friend  and  helpful 
sister, —  I  know  I  may  call  you  such,  —  the  record  of 


196  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

your  vision  has  opened  up  to  me  forever  those  grand 
impressive  words  of  heavenly  teaching  from  the  lips  of 
our  Divine  Lord,  'Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of 
this  fold;  them  also  I  will  bring;  and  there  shall  be  one 
fold  and  one  shepherd. ' ' 

"There  shall  be,  there  is  not  now;  now  there  are 
many  folds  and  many  shepherds  on  earth,  but  there  is 
only  one  in  heaven,  and  as  the  pater  noster  teaches  us 
to  pray  that  God's  will  may  yet  be  done  on  earth  as  it 
is  already  done  in  heaven,  so  do  I  feel  convinced  that 
our  Saviour  teaches  us  that  every  human  heart  which 
yearns  for  truth  is  in  one  of  the  many  divisions  of  his 
illimitable  fold.  Christ  is  no  mere  man ;  he  is  the 
eternal  Word,  truly  begotten  Son  of  the  Infinite ;  and 
this  glorious  truth  will  yet  be  revealed  to  all  men.  But 
his  followers  are  all  who  love  humanity;  they  may 
never  have  heard  of  him,  they  may  even  question  his 
existence,  but  they  are  spiritually  conjoined  with  him 
if  they  are  in  the  love  of  truth  and  neighbor." 

As  the  fair  seeress  uttered  these  parting  words  to 
her  grateful  companion,  who  had  now  quite  emerged 
from  darkness  into  sunshine  of  spirit,  her  features  were 
illumined  with  a  superterrestrial  radiance  which  im 
parted  to  her  words  the  living  glow  of  genuine  pro 
phetic  fire.  As  she  finished  speaking,  the  butterfly  in 
her  valued  brooch  lightly  touched  first  the  cross  beneath 
and  then  the  star  above  its  wings. 

Mrs.  Oyster  smiled  understandingly  as  she  watched 
the  expressive  action  of  a  piece  of  jewelry,  which 
seemed  to  have  so  far  imbibed  its  wearer's  psychic 
emanation  that  it  acted  as  a  living  creature  responsive 
to  her  moods. 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  197 

"First  the  cross,  then  the  star, —  and  that  a  seven- 
pointed  one,  —  and  we  are  to  be  butterflies ;  I  think  I 
understand  it,"  brightly  exclaimed  Mrs.  Oyster,  as  she 
tripped  away  lightly  as  a  girl  (and  her  age  was  over 
sixty).  "I  shall  do  some  true  missionary  work  to 
morrow  on  the  basis  of  what  you  have  taught  me;  may 
God  help  you  to  bless  others  as  you  have  this  day 
blessed  me."  And  she  had  vanished,  leaving  Visalia, 
as  she  thought,  alone. 

Professor  Monteith  had,  however,  seen  and  heard 
everything  from  a  quiet  nook  where  he  had  been  read 
ing.  Stepping  forward  and  apologizing  for  being  un 
intentionally  an  eavesdropper,  he  said  fervently:  — 

"If  Christianity  were  what  you  teach  and  believe,  I 
would  this  instant  implore  its  Founder  on  my  bended 
knees  to  accept  me  as  a  disciple ;  but,  alas !  in  the  world 
and  the  churches  one  finds  it  vastly  otherwise.  But  I 
thank  you,  madam ;  you  have  taught  me  another  lesson 
in  kindliness,  and  I  as  well  as  your  recent  pupil  am 
grateful."  And  he  also  quickly  departed. 

After  such  an  episode  the  heart  of  the  noble  lady  who 
had  been  privileged  through  perfect  frankness  to  give 
true  help  to  a  weary,  toil  worn  spirit,  and  to  strengthen 
the  good  work  already  begun  in  an  honest  but  doubting 
scientific  explorer,  felt  deep  peace  and  thankfulness  of 
spirit ;  she  was  never  self-elated,  but  very  grateful  when 
she  had  been  of  use  to  others. 

When  a  few  minutes  later  Mrs.  Gore  and  Arthur  met 
her  in  the  Menier  Building,  where  she  was  taking  her 
favorite  food  and  beverage,  she  appeared  merry*  as  a 
kitten ;  her  eyes  were  sparkling,  and  the  natural  exu- 


198  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   BOCK. 

berance  of  her  healthy  youthful  spirits  asserted  itself  to 
the  utmost.  True  spirituality  is  always  bright  as  sum 
mer  sunshine,  but  deep  as  a  well  whose  depth  no  plum 
met  can  sound.  Only  when  healthy  happiness  charac 
terizes  a  life  have  we  unmistakable  evidence  that  real 
regeneration  is  in  process.  Sad,  sallow,  pucker-faced 
religion  is  either  pathology  or  hypocrisy  caricaturing 
piety.  Dr.  Watts  spoke  truly  indeed,  in  spite  of  all 
his  errors,  when  he  sang :  — 

"  Religion  never  was  designed 
To  make  our  pleasures  less." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

FOOTSTEPS   OF   ANGELS. 

"  When  the  hours  of  day  are  numbered 

And  the  voices  of  the  night 
Wake  the  better  soul  that  slumbered 

To  a  holy,  calm  delight, 
***###*# 
Then  the  forms  of  the  departed 

Enter  at  the  open  door ; 
The  beloved  ones,  the  true-hearted, 
Come  to  visit  us  once  more." 

IT  was  nearing  six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  day 
following  when  Professor  Monteith,  engaged  in  diligent 
perusal  of  the  latest  scientific  news  from  Europe,  heard 
the  sweet,  clear  voice  of  Madame  Discalcelis  singing 
in  an  adjoining  apartment  the  above  beautiful  words 
from  the  pen  of  the  truly  gifted  and  inspired  Henry 
Wadsworth  Longfellow.  As  she  sang,  a  holy  hush 
seemed  to  pervade  the  library  where  he  was  sitting,  as 
though  the  tone  vibrations  from  the  neighboring  draw 
ing-room  had  penetrated  the  walls,  and  made  the  other 
room  a  portion  of  the  sanctum  wherein  the  music  was 
actually  produced.  *  *  *  Was  it  sleep  or  was  it  a 
trance  into  which  he  fell?  Whichever  it  may  have 

199 


200  DASHED    AGAINST    THE    ROCK. 

been,  —  or  perchance  some  state  which  is  neither  sleep 
nor  trance,  but  superior  to  both  or  either,  —  Professor 
Monteith  realized  that  the  fair  singer,  in  company  with 
her  hostess  and  her  hostess'  son,  entered  the  apartment 
where  he  was  sitting,  smiled  kindly  upon  him,  greeted 
him  politely  and  cheerily ;  still  he  could  not  respond  to 
their  greetings  nor  return  their  glances.  *  *  *  The 
book  he  was  reading  fell  from  his  hands  on  to  the  floor, 
but  he  could  not  stoop  to  pick  it  up  nor  thank  Mr.  Gore 
for  replacing  it  on  the  centre-table ;  he  was  in  the  room, 
conscious  of  the  presence  of  its  other  inmates,  aware  of 
their  kindly  interest  in  himself  and  their  solicitude  for 
his  welfare,  but  he  was  also  elsewhere.  Elsewhere,  but 
where?  How  came  Sicily  to  be  in  Chicago?  How 
came  lemon  groves  into  the  library  of  an  Englewood 
villa?  How  came  he,  Regulus  Monteith,  an  English 
professor  of  natural  sciences,  to  be  attired  in  the  cos 
tume  of  a  knight  of  old,  with  helmet,  cuirass,  and 
sword?  *  *  *  Who  is  that  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
and  pressing  her  lips  to  his  brow  ?  Surely,  not  one  of 
the  ladies  in  the  library  with  him !  No,  indeed ;  they 
are  sitting  near  each  other  at  the  other  end  of  the 
apartment,  one  of  them  reading,  the  other  embroider 
ing.  Who,  then,  can  the  third  lady  be  ?  Her  form  is 
graceful,  supple  as  a  willow;  she  is  all  white,  — clear, 
beautiful,  dazzling,  spotless  white,  calling  to  mind  the 
glorious  imagery  which  the  evangelists  employ  to 
describe  the  transfiguration  of  the  Divine  Man.  Is  it 
possible  that  this  fair,  slender,  fleecy  form  of  light  is 
a  human  shape  ?  It  has  no  solidity,  it  is  well-nigh  trans 
parent;  and  yet  the  flesh,  if  flesh  it  be,  has  a  con- 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE    ROCK.  201 

sistency.  *  *  *  The  lips  move;  he  feels  the  breath 
issuing  through  those  parted  lips  upon  his  cheek ;  and 
then  the  piano  in  the  drawing-room  begins  to  play,  and 
Madame  Ducalcelis  cannot  now  be  its  manipulator,  for 
she  is  reading  at  Mrs.  Gore's  side.  *  *  *  Is  she  read 
ing?  What  is  that  fleecy,  slender  column  of  light  that 
rises  from  her  head?  What  is  that  marvellous,  white, 
tremulous  flame  which  is  playing  about  her  golden 
curls,  and  literally  dancing  on  her  snowy  forehead?  and 
what  has  that  to  do  with  the  lily-crowned  maiden  at 
his  side,  whose  hands  are  full  of  lilies-of-the-valley, 
and  whose  vesture  is  a  sheen  of  light,  darting  forth 
opalescent  streams  of  radiance  as  from  a  diamond  robe  ? 
*  *  *  Chicago  is  not;  America  is  not  discovered;  the 
nineteenth  century  is  not  born,  no,  nor  the  eighteenth, 
nor  the  seventeenth,  nor  the  sixteenth,  nor  the  fifteenth. 
What  century  is  it?  Who  shall  answer?  Professor 
Monteith  is  not,  he  has  never  been  born ;  but  Claudius 
Regulus  Monaldini  is  alive,  and  so  is  Lavinia  Mar- 
ghuerita  di  Balesco,  and  they  are  walking  arm  in  arm, 
as  lovers  walk,  through  spicy  lemon  groves  at  dewy  eve ; 
and  the  knight  in  armor  presses  his  bearded  lips  upon 
the  snowy  hand  of  the  maiden,  and  swears  by  all  the 
saints  and  angels,  yea,  and  by  all  the  stars  that  stud 
the  azure  canopy,  that  to  her  and  to  her  only  will  he  be 
faithful  even  unto  death.  *  *  *  The  scene  has  changed. 
Who  is  that  dark-eyed,  raven-locked,  Neapolitan 
beauty,  who  bids  him  forget  his  vows,  scatter  honor  to 
the  winds,  and  flee  with  her  to  Corsica,  where  they  may 
live,  she  tells  him,  in  an  enchanted  bower  laden  with 
every  conceivable  delight,  a  life  that  even  gods  might 


202  DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

envy?  *  *  *  It  is  night:  the  evil  compact  has  been 
sealed,  vows  to  truth  and  honor  have  been  broken,  the 
very  name  of  God  has  been  blasphemed,  and  saints  and 
angels  have  been  invoked  to  witness  to  a  bond  with 
hell.  Brave,  bold  oaths  of  lawless  defiance  of  God  and 
man  have  been  mingled  with  passionate  kisses  and 
protestations  of  undying  love,  and  against  it  all,  yet 
above  it  all,  as  stars  shine  brightly  and  serenely  through 
the  otherwise  dark  midnight  over  a  guilty  city,  — self- 
doomed  to  foulest  degradation  and  uttermost  damnation, 
—  there  hovers  a  gentle  angel-presence.  The  air  is 
stirred  mysteriously,  the  companions  in  guilt  shiver, 
and  above  the  rustle  of  the  leaves  and  the  murmur  of 
the  breeze,  the  notes  ring  out  mournfully  but  sweetly, 
solemnly  but  not  despairingly,  ' '  Semper  credo  in  vitam 
ceternam. ' '  "  Oh !  not  that ;  anything  but  that, "  shrieks 
the  plumed  knight,  so  brave  but  an  instant  before. 
For  a  moment  he  staggers,  falls,  reels  blind,  senseless, 
at  the  feet  of  the  syren  who  has  taught  him  the  arts  of 
sin,  and  whose  diabolical  witcheries  have  wrested  from 
him  his  slender  stock  of  real  manliness  and  trust  in 
Heaven.  Even  she,  the  perfidious  Pythonia,  trembles ; 
for  her  companion's  lips  are  ashen,  his  cheeks  are  livid, 
his  brow  is  wet  with  what  resembles  the  sweat  of  death, 
while  out  of  the  silvery  silence  there  echoes  a  voice,  not 
loud,  but  penetrating  to  the  very  marrow  of  her  bones, 
whose  words  ring  in  her  ears  and  she  cannot  shut  them 
out,  though  they  madden  her.  "  Earth  at  length  must 
claim  his  body;  you  for  a  few  short  years  may  antici 
pate  the  worms,  but  I,  as  God's  ambassador,  am  com 
missioned  to  keep  watch  for  his  soul."  The  voice  is  so 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  BOCK.  203 

mysterious,  the  words  are  so  ominous,  —  and  Pythonia's 
black  soul,  like  that  of  any  fiend,  believes  and  trembles, — 
that  she  rushes  from  the  grove  and  leaves  the  senseless 
partner  of  her  sin  to  recover  as  best  he  may,  and,  wak 
ing,  find  his  inamorata  fled.  *  *  *  He  wakes,  alone, 
deserted,  mocked,  cheated  by  the  viper  to  whom  he 
would  have  sold  his  spirit,  — but  yet  not  alone;  for  the 
evening  star  seems  to  bear  him  company,  and  from  one 
of  its  many  shafts  of  scintillating  radiance  comes  the 
old  refrain,  which  carries  him  back  to  the  memory  of 
a  love,  outraged  and  scorned,  but  ever  true  and  ever 
patient.  "Credo  semper  in  vitam  ceternam."  *  *  * 
For  nine  long  years  he  hears  that  voice  no  more ;  Pytho- 
nia  never  returns  to  him ;  he  wins  the  Malta  cross ;  he 
dies  at  length,  untended,  on  the  battle-field ;  but  as  his 
lips  close  and  his  eyes  grow  heavy,  a  gentle  hand  is 
pressed  upon  his  brow,  and  a  sweet  song  sounds  in  his 
ears  ere  his  naked  spirit  doffs  its  coil  of  lacerated  flesh. 
"After  five  hundred  years  you  will  again  behold  me; 
I  shall  ever  be  your  guardian,  but  your  path  and  mine 
must  appear  diverse  till  then.  Ego  sum  semper  fidelis. " 
*  *  *  A  deep,  dark,  dismal  blank,  —  years,  genera 
tions,  centuries  of  time,  are  not  marked  off  in  purga 
tory  as  they  are  on  earth.  Once  in  a  while  a  faint  ray 
of  glory  pierced  the  gloom, 'as  a  vision  of  the  uplifted 
HOST  raised  during  Mass  in  a  little  Sicilian  chapel 
amid  the  hills  cheered  for  a  brief  space  the  utter  gloom 
of  his  long  tarrying  in  Limbo ;  that  was  when  a  requiem 
Mass  was  being  offered,  at  which  he,  poor  soul,  was 
being  remembered  in  prayer;  but  these  glimpses  of 
light,  revealing  a  far-off  paradise,  were  so  infrequent 


204  DASHED    AGAINST   THE    KOCK. 

and  so  brief  that  they  served  only  as  milestones  to  mark 
off  the  weary  waiting  in  the  strange,  exterior  darkness, 
into  which  all  earthbound  souls  must  enter  when  they 
drop  the  robe  of  flesh.  No  fire,  no  torment,  no  com 
panionship  of  any  sort,  only  the  sense  of  driest,  dreariest 
loneliness,  awaits  the  sensual  and  false  in  the  interval 
between  their  death  and  resurrection.  *  *  *  Five  hun 
dred  years  have  sped  their  course ;  it  is  now  1869,  but 
the  place  is  again  Sicily,  and  the  scene  is  again  a  lemon 
grove.  This  time  a  young  English  subaltern  is  walk 
ing  arm  in  arm,  but  very  slowly,  with  a  fragile  but 
lovely  maiden,  to  whom  he  plights  his  honest  troth,  but 
feels,  alas!  all  too  plainly,  that  not  on  earth  can  he 
hope  to  realize  his  dearly  expected  joy.  Suddenly  she 
falls  prone  on  the  earth  beside  him ;  her  face  lights  up 
with  more  than  earthly  radiance,  she  smiles,  speaks, 
sings,  and  then  breathes  her  last  of  earth  and  first  of 
paradise,  while  there  rings  in  his  ear,  as  though  a 
company  of  heavenly  choristers  were  chanting  in  majes 
tic  harmony,  led  by  one  resonating,  triumphal  voice, 
"  Credo  semper,  semper  credo,  in  vitam,  vitam,  vitam 
ceternam."  The  music  is  a  concluding  harmony  from 
the  G-loria  of  Haydn's  Imperial  Mass.  *  *  *  Twenty- 
four  years  have  sped  their  changeful  course;  the  young 
subaltern  has  given  up  the  army  and  devoted  himself 
to  science.  Cheerless,  atheistic,  hopeless,  but  never 
vile,  has  he  been  through  all  those  years  of  lonely 
struggle  and  determined  effort  to  solve,  if  may  be,  the 
speechless  riddle  of  the  universal  sphinx;  and  now,  in 
another  land,  in  company  with  new-found  friends,  the 
same  sweet  song  reverberates  in  his  ears,  while  a 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  205 

heavenly  vision  floats  before  his  eyes,  and  with  a 
triumphant  shout,  "  Yes,  it  is  she,  she  in  all  her  beauty, 
in  the  deathlessness  of  her  quenchless  love;  she,  my 
true  bride,  my  everlasting  mate,  through  the  cycles  of 
eternity,"  he  wakes,  starts,  gazes  about  him,  while 
Visalia  Discalcelis,  her  face  almost  as  bright  as  that  of 
the  departing  angel,  says  gently,  to  quiet  his  agitation, 
and,  if  possible,  to  fully  reassure  him,  — for  he  is  now 
trembling,  agitated,  and  beginning  to  doubt,  - 

"  I  also  have  seen  her  and  heard  her.  You  have  seen 
this  day  what  your  faithfulness  has  won  for  you." 

No  words  can  answer  the  deepest  questions  of  the 
world.  No  speculative  treatises  on  re-embodiment  can 
make  plain  to  the  unrealizing  what  must  be  felt  to  be 
known.  Regulus  Monteith  had  peered  behind  the 
mystic  curtain  which  shrouded  his  present  from  a 
former  existence,  and  he  knew  then,  even  though  he 
may  have  often  doubted  it  afterward,  that  his  old 
dead  self  had  been  shown  to  him  in  that  hour,  and  a 
disclosure  made  to  him,  the  patient,  toiling  seeker  after 
knowledge,  which  is  vouchsafed  to  few.  Madame  Dis 
calcelis  had  furnished  the  conditions  into  which  the 
lovely  spirit  could  enter,  who  showed  herself  thus 
plainly  to  the  professor's  extended  senses  of  hearing, 
sight,  and  recollection. 

Whether  a  series  of  tableaux  were  presented  to  his 
mental  gaze,  whether  the  interstellar,  etheric  volume 
in  which  all  events  are  recorded,  was  opened  to  his  view, 
or  whether  memory  alone  served  him,  let  those  who 
caw,  decide.  Facts  are  facts,  explain,  deny,  question, 
deride,  accept  them,  as  we  may;  and  in  this  age  of 


206  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

startling  psychical  phenomena,  we  may  well  expect 
cases  to  multiply,  and  that  so  rapidly  on  every  hand, 
that  the  unseen  will  make  itself  felt,  even  by  those 
whose  empty  boast  it  long  has  been,  that  nothing 
whatever  can  be  known  by  any  one  save  through  the 
evidence  presented  to  one  or  more  of  the  five  bodily 
senses.  Five  bodily  senses,  indeed!  as  though  these 
were  man's  only  way  of  grasping  ideas  or  arriving  at 
knowledge,  when  every  scientific  theory  now  put  for 
ward  is  itself  a  perfect  refutation  of  any  such  absurd 
pretence.  The  five  senses  are  the  veriest  bond-servants 
of  imagination,  as  well  as  intellect,  and  until  they  are 
relegated  to  their  proper  position  as  subordinates,  and 
held  there,  science  will  be  given  over  to  vapid  vapor- 
ings,  which  are  the  stock  in  trade  of  agnostic  platitudi- 
nizers. 

It  is  the  search  for  truth,  the  eager  quest  for  knowl 
edge,  which  makes  science  glorious,  or  even  possible ; 
and  those  among  distinguished  scientists,  who  are 
to-day  investigating  spiritual  phenomena,  are  the  only 
real  ornaments  of  their  professions.  The  science  of  the 
future  will  be  so  great  and  majestic  a  thing,  that  while 
it  encompasses  earth,  it  will  also  seek  to  fathom  the 
Great  Beyond;  and  though  there  will  ever  be  mysteries, 
untrodden  paths,  up  which  the  feet  of  finite  reason  may 
never  climb,  such  glimpses  will  come,  yea,  are  now 
coming,  from  the  mountain  summits  of  spiritual  attain 
ment,  that  soon  it  will  be  only  possible  to  willingly 
accept  or  wilfully  deny  the  evidence  of  life  immortal, 
which  will  be  on  every  hand  forthcoming. 

In  some  such  spirit  Professor  Monteith  was  forced  to 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  207 

ruminate  upon  the  wondrous  demonstration  of  spiritual 
power  which  had  just  been  granted  him ;  but  so  strong 
is  bias  oftentimes,  so  obstinate  is  habit,  that  prejudice 
asserts  itself  again,  and  yet  again,  when  it  would  seem 
to  all  but  angels,  that  whoever  still  persists  in  doubt 
must  be  indeed  a  voluntary  infidel.  Not  so  always; 
the  pressure  of  material  belief  is  intensely  strong,  and 
when  once  the  mind  has  become  encased  in  an  armor  of 
Materialism,  the  rhinoceros-like  hide  yields  but  slowly, 
even  to  the  pressure  of  celestial  light. 

While  Professor  Monteith  recovered  slowly  from  the 
dazed  estate  into  which  he  had  been  thrown  by  his  late 
experience,  Madame  Discalcelis  returned  to  the  draw 
ing-room,  and  continuing  her  musical  recitation  of  the 
gem  of  Longfellow  she  had  commenced  an  hour  earlier, 
she  sang  on  till  dinner  was  announced. 

"  Uttered  not,  yet  comprehended, 
Is  the  spirit's  voiceless  prayer. 
Soft  rebukes  in  blessings  ended, 
Breaking  from  those  lips  of  air." 

At  dinner  the  spirits  of  all  the  party  regained  their 
ordinary  equilibrium ;  conversation  flowed  freely,  and 
no  one  who  had  suddenly  popped  in  upon  the  quiet, 
well-conducted  quartet  at  the  table,  could  have  imag 
ined,  scarcely  could  have  been  made  to  believe,  that  to 
at  least  two  out  of  the  four,  only  a  few  minutes  ear 
lier,  the  heavens  had  opened  and  music  had  floated 
through  the  pearly  gates  from  the  lips  of  angelic 
choristers. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A   GLIMPSE   OF    TWO   WHITE   CITIES. 

AFTER  the  thrilling  experiences  of  a  purely  mental 
and  subjective  character  to  which  Professor  Monteith 
had  so  recently  been  intromitted,  it  was  with  something 
akin  to  a  sense  of  relief  from  such  high  tension  of  feel 
ing  that  he  responded  to  Mrs.  Gore's  cordial  invitation 
to  make  one  of  their  party  the  same  evening  to  visit 
the  White  City  in  all  the  splendor  of  its  electric 
illumination. 

Ever  beautiful  and  deeply  impressive  by  day,  this 
fairy  city  was  a  materialized  dream  of  glory  at  even 
tide.  In  the  garish  light  of  day  imperfections  were 
often  discernible;  the  too  conspicuous  evidences  of 
economical  lunches,  eaten  in  State  buildings  or  out 
of  doors,  were  unpleasantly  intrusive,  and  whatever 
of  vulgar  realism  was  contained  in  the  plan  and  con 
duct  of  the  Exposition,  stood  out  in  harsh  and  grating 
contrast  to  the  silent  splendor  of  the  exquisite,  though 
not  extremely  substantial,  Exhibition  buildings.  After 
sunset  all  this  was  changed,  save  when  an  occasional 
search-light  of  unusual  power  revealed  for  a  moment 
the  crudities,  while  it  heightened  the  glories,  of  the 
majestic  tout  ensemble  of  the  scene. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  209 

This  was  a  lovely  evening ;  though  near  the  close  of 
September,  the  air  was  soft  and  balmy  as  in  a  poet's 
dream  of  a  perfect  night  in  June ;  myriads  of  electric 
lights,  in  all  the  wonder  of  their  incandescent  mystery, 
illuminated  the  short-lived  palaces  of  this  fair  dream- 
city,  veiling  in  bright  yet  mellow  radiance  all  that 
could  suggest  fragility  or  impending  doom.  The 
waters  of  the  great  Lake  Michigan  —  often  lashed  to 
fury,  like  waves  of  the  tempestuous  ocean,  by  violence 
of  fierce  winds  —  now  rested  tranquilly  as  a  sea  of 
glass,  ordained  to  mirror  forth  in  its  crystalline  depths 
the  opaline  splendors  of  the  dazzling  scene.  It  was  an 
hour  of  rest,  and  yet  of  joyful  activity ;  for  the  wonder- 
seekers  on  that  evening  were  not  boisterous,  nor  were 
they  too  numerous.  There  was  no  anticipation  of  pyro 
technics,  and  no  "  special  attractions  "  of  any  kind,  and 
on  a  quiet  night  the  White  City  always  appeared  at  its 
best. 

As  soon  as  he  could  speak  —  for  the  scene  at  first  ut 
terly  silenced  him  —  Professor  Monteith  exclaimed:  — 

"  Is  this  fair  work  of  man,  think  you,  a  feeble  hint 
of  what  the  New  Jerusalem  must  be  ?  Has  the  spirit 
ual  realm  its  domes,  its  minarets,  its  tapering  spires, 
its  varied,  gorgeous  forms  of  decorative  art,  as  well  as 
its  electric  fountains,  brilliant  search-lights,  and  happy 
moving  throngs ;  or  is  this  superb  panorama  merely  an 
illusion  of  our  senses,  a  dream  of  a  moment,  a  false  con 
ception,  an  empty  mirage  in  the  desert  of  our  mortal 
pilgrimage?  I  cannot  think  these  questions  out;  they 
are  far  too  high  for  me ;  my  brain  reels,  intellect  totters, 
reason  is  baffled  utterly.  I  must  abhor  this  lovely 


210  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  HOCK. 

scene  if  it  is  but  a  mocking  syren,  taunting  us  with 
hopes  of  what  may  never  be;  but  since  I  have  been 
among  you,  and  heard  your  wonderful  interpretations 
of  the  universal  whole,  I  venture  fondly,  though  still 
very  feebly,  to  hope  that  there  may  be  a  reality  behind 
this  beautiful  ephemera,  even  a  Divine  Breath,  which 
blows  these  bubbles  into  space  and  will  only  recall  the 
symbols  when  His  little  ones  are  prepared  to  stand 
face  to  face  with  the  substance  which  casts  this  fair 
reflection." 

"What!  agnostic  still,  yet  only  hoping?"  broke  in 
the  kindly  tones  of  Arthur  Gore  —  between  whom  and 
the  laboring  professor  a  ripening  friendship  was  daily 
increasing  —  "honest  questioning  is  indeed  the  road  to 
knowledge ;  but  since  you  were  convinced  this  afternoon, 
how  can  you  be  but  vaguely  hoping  now  ?  Does  con 
viction  also  dwell  in  the  shadowy  region  of  baseless 
ephemera?  Wake  up,  my  good  friend,  collect  your 
scattered  forces,  and  DARE  (you  love  boldness,  you 
claim)  to  declare  once  for  all,  in  the  presence  of  this 
dazzling  semblance  of  the  real  —  for  the  IDEAL  is  the 
only  REAL  — 'I  KNOW  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.' ' 

Very  faintly,  and  withal  tremulously,  Professor 
Monteith  uttered  the  syllables  after  his  young  precep 
tor,  whose  ringing  accents  betrayed  never  a  shade  of 
doubt;  and  then  he  sank  to  slumber,  his  eyes  closed, 
his  breath  came  quickly  but  evenly,  his  countenance 
seemed  to  have  caught  something  of  the  glow  of  the 
entrancing  scene  around,  and  as  though  partly  in 
prayer  and  partly  in  exultation,  his  lips  moved  slightly, 
and  he  murmured  again  and  yet  again,  as  in  a  trance- 
f ul  dream :  — 


AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  211 

"I  know  it,  yes,  now  verily,  I  KNOW  it." 

For  two  full  hours  he  sat,  or  rather  reclined  thus, 
on  a  settee  facing  the  lagoon ;  the  Venetian  gondolas, 
manned  by  Italian  gondoliers  in  the  picturesque  cos 
tume  of  their  native  land,  glided  swiftly  by ;  the  hum 
of  conversation  from  adjacent  benches  broke  the  quiet 
of  the  evening,  the  bands  in  the  near  distance  lent 
enchantment  to  the  hour  while  they  discoursed  sweet 
music ;  but  the  professor  slumbered  on,  and  yet  slum 
bered  not,  for  though  his  outer  orbs  were  hidden  behind 
the  fallen  lids,  the  eyes  of  his  spirit  were  open  to 
something  of  the  beauties  of  a  WORLD'S  FAIR  in 
HEAVEN. 

Mrs.  Gore  and  Madame  Discalcelis  wandered  to 
gether  up  and  down  the  walks,  and  occasionally  peeped 
into  an  open  building,  but  Arthur  never  left  the  profes 
sor's  side  for  a  single  instant;  he  seemed  almost  like  a 
tender  father  to  the  man  who  was  twenty  years  his 
senior,  and  it  was,  if  truth  be  told,  the  electric  cur 
rent  from  the  young  man's  healthy,  well-ordered  frame 
flowing  gently  and  continuously  into  the  world-worn 
brain  of  the  older  man,  which  kept  the  latter  so  peace 
fully  at  rest  in  body  while  his  soul  for  the  time  was 
almost  free  from  the  shackles  of  the  flesh,  almost,  but 
not  entirely  free. 

Just  as  the  hour  of  ten  was  striking,  and  most  of  the 
visitors  were  scampering  to  the  stairways  leading  to 
the  elevated  cars  or  to  the  depots  of  the  Illinois  Cen 
tral  trains,  Professor  Monteith  awoke  suddenly,  but 
without  the  slightest  start,  and  looking  steadily  into 
the  eyes  of  his  faithful  companion,  said  in  a  clear,  con- 


212         DASHED  AGAINST  THE  HOCK. 

fident  voice,  as  though  he  were  uttering  but  a  com 
monplace  :  — 

"Yes,  there  are  two  of  them,  for  I  have  seen  the 
other." 

"Two  of  what,  my  good  sir?"  said  Madame  Dis- 
calcelis,  who,  with  Mrs.  Gore,  had  just  returned  to  the 
seat. 

"Why,  two  Expositions,  most  noble  madam,"  re 
sponded  Professor  Monteith;  "and  oh!  how  much  fairer 
is  the  second  than  the  first,  though  perhaps  I  ought  to 
correct  myself  and  say  the  first  than  the  second,  for  now 
I  KNOW  that  all  this  vast  agglomeration  of  material, 
resplendent  though  it  is,  is  naught  but  a  poor  effect  of 
a  spiritual  cause  whose  sublimity  defies  all  description." 

*'  So  you  do  not  wonder  and  hope  any  longer,  do  you  ? 
At  last  you  know;  but  take  care  that  the  little  demon 
Doubt  doesn't  gain  another  entrance.  Mr.  Gore  has 
helped  you  this  time  to  overcome  the  demon,  and  we 
have  all  co-operated  with  him  in  his  happily  success 
ful  endeavor,  but  none  can  continue  to  see,  much  less 
to  dwell  within,  the  glorious  White  City  of  the  skies, 
until  without  another's  aid  a  soul  will  cling  directly 
to  the  All-Glorious." 

A  soft  wind  arose  from  the  lake,  the  stars  came  out 
in  greater  numbers,  the  moon  rose  higher  toward  the 
zenith,  the  butterfly  kissed  the  star  on  the  fair  speaker's 
corsage,  and  then  the  professor  knew  no  more  than  that 
he  was  happy  with  his  friends  and  contentedly  sipping 
chocolate  in  the  Menier  Building. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

WHAT   OF   PERPETUAL   MOTION? 

THE  World's  Fair  is  over;  the  World's  Parliament 
of  Religions  has  passed  into  history,  preserved  in  two 
massive  volumes  of  eight  hundred  pages  each.  Chicago 
is  beginning  to  suffer  a  reaction  from  the  strain  of  the 
past  summer,  and  the  many  tourists  and  visitors  to  this 
great  metropolis  of  the  West  have  carried  home  with 
them  varied  memories  and  countless  trophies  from  the 
scene  of  the  recent  Exposition. 

Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  with  her  son  and  Madame  Dis- 
calcelis,  has  returned  to  London;  Professor  Monteith 
has  remained  in  America  and  gone  to  Philadelphia, 
with  the  express  purpose  of  personally  interviewing 
John  Worrell  Keely,  the  painstaking,  tireless  worker, 
who  for  thirty  years  or  more  has  been  steadily  working 
out,  almost  alone,  some  of  the  most  stupendous  prob 
lems  which  the  human  intellect  can  ever  seek  to  solve. 
Those  wonderful  documents  entrusted  to  his  charge  by 
Aldebaran  the  mystic,  in  London,  had  induced  Pro 
fessor  Monteith  to  seek  in  every  possible  way  to  uti 
lize  the  marvellous  information  therein  embodied,  but 
hitherto  he  had  found  the  statements,  though  probably 

213 


2l4  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  EOCK. 

scientifically  sound  in  every  detail,  entirely  beyond  his 
grasp  for  purposes  of  practical  experiment.  His  recent 
spiritual  experiences  had  so  greatly  softened  the  previ 
ous  asperity  of  his  disposition,  that,  cynical  no  longer, 
he  was  now  ready  to  calmly  and  hopefully  investigate 
whatever  promised  to  throw  any  light  at  all  on  the 
great  question  of  how  far  man  can  dominate  the  forces 
of  exterior  nature.  During  his  stay  in  Philadelphia, 
it  was  his  good  fortune  to  meet  and  become  quite  well 
acquainted  with  the  Reverend  Albert  Plum,  a  Boston 
clergyman,  who  had  spent  much  time  and  thought  over 
Keely's  remarkable  discovery.  Dr.  Plum  being  always 
renowned  for  fearlessness  of  utterance  as  well  as  sincer 
ity  of  purpose,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  has  openly, 
through  the  columns  of  so  widely  circulating  a  news 
paper  as  the  Boston  Transcript,  espoused  the  cause  of 
Keely's  stupendous  discovery,  at  a  time  when  much 
undeserved  contempt  and  derision  have  been  cast  upon 
the  work  of  one  of  the  loyalest  truth-seekers  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

In  the  reading-room  of  the  Hotel  Metropole,  one 
blustering  winter  evening,  when  the  cheery  fireside 
was  infinitely  preferable  to  the  gusty  streets,  Dr.  Plum 
related  to  Professor  Monteith,  in  the  following  words, 
the  result  of  his  long-continued,  oft-repeated  visits  to 
Mr.  Keely,  whom  he  always  found  desirous  of  giving 
all  information  possible  to  honorable  investigators. 

"I  have  seen  a  spectacle  I  would  have  pronounced 
impossible  according  to  all  accepted  theories  of  physics 
with  which  I  am  familiar.  Without  apparent  exhibi 
tion  of  heat,  electricity,  or  any  other  form  of  energy 


DASHED   AGAINST  THEJ  ROCK.  215 

hitherto  operated  by  man,  I  have  seen  a  strong  metallic 
wheel,  weighing  seventy-two  pounds,  in  swift  and 
steady  revolution  by  the  hour,  and  absolutely  without 
cost.  It  is  but  a  subsidiary  engine,  made  and  used 
simply  to  help  equip  with  similar  mysterious  capacity 
of  movement  the  large  commercial  engine  by  its  side. 
And  that  is  a  most  strange  and  complex  mechanism, 
which  perhaps  no  one  but  the  inventor  can  even  under 
stand  at  present,  and  which,  but  for  too  frequent  pre 
vious  unauthorized  fixing  of  dates,  might  be  said  to 
give  promise  of  being  itself  in  motion  very  soon.  What 
is  'very  soon'  in  such  an  undertaking?  Another  thirty 
years  of  patient,  lonely  plodding  on  this  labyrinthine 
path  would  be  nothing,  if  then  this  explorer  could  reach 
his  goal.  How  long  after  Franklin's  kite  did  the  world 
wait,  and  how  many  hundred  great  experimenters, 
before  a  dynamo  engine  kindled  our  lamps  and  whirred 
our  wheels?  Yet  this  solitary  pioneer,  grown  half 
blind  by  groping  in  these  dim  intricacies  so  long,  again 
and  again  hurled  aside,  broken  and  almost  dying  by 
the  terrific  force  with  which  he  is  seeking  to  cope,  is 
met  with  the  sneer,  'Why  don't  you  do  something?' 
He  has  done  much,  done  it  single-handed  and  alone, 
and  amid  storms  of  ignorant,  senseless,  and  cruel 
abuse.  His  immortality,  however,  is  sure.  For  the 
world  at  length  honors  an  honorable  purpose,  persis 
tently  pursued  in  a  high  undertaking.  And  he  has 
already  so  enlarged  the  domain  of  human  knowledge, 
he  has  lifted  man  into  such  a  new  world  of  fact,  the 
truths  his  experiments  unveil  are  so  novel,  suggestive, 
and  inspiring,  that  whether  all  this  is  ever  turned  to 


216  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  HOCK;. 

practical  account  or  not,  his  name  will  never  die. 
But  if  he  should  turn  out  to  be  a  prophet,  if  he  is  a 
seer,  and  does  really  discern  a  promised  land  of  light 
ened  toil  into  which  mankind  will  eventually  enter, 
even  though  he  may  not  live  to  lead  them  in,  then 
the  world  will  gratefully  build  his  tomb. 

"  But  the  world  asks,  who  is  the  witness  that  testifies 
so  boldly  to  these  surprising  things  ?  Is  he  competent 
and  worthy  of  trust?  The  witness  is  not  a  capitalist, 
and  he  has  no  relations  with  investors,  and  is  free  to 
say  that  if  Keely  were  to  die  to-morrow,  it  might  be  a 
hundred  years  before  another  mind  would  arise  able  to 
complete  his  work;  if,  indeed,  it  is  capable  of  being 
completed  at  all,  which  no  one  at  present  knows.  Im 
pelled  by  a  life-long  interest  in  the  wonders  of  natural 
science,  and  honored  by  the  personal  friendship  of  Keely 
and  a  few  of  his  advisers,  I  have  followed  the  course 
of  this  investigator  for  years  with  the  intensest  inter 
est  and  sincerest  admiration.  I  spent  more  of  my 
vacation  this  season  in  the  Philadelphia  laboratory, 
and  saw  greater  wonders  there,  than  in  the  Chicago 
Fair. 

"In  whose  judgment  greater?  Is  a  layman  in  physi 
cal  science  competent  to  judge  in  such  matters  ?  Con 
fessedly  not,  on  some  questions.  To  most  men  the 
learned  physicists  speak  an  unknown  tongue.  Too 
profound  for  the  common  apprehension  are  the  mathe 
matical  formulas,  even,  with  which  their  works  abound, 
though  their  theories  and  arguments  are  full  of  interest. 
And  many  would  confess  also  that  they  can  no  more 
understand  the  ground  of  Keely's  assertions  concerning 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  217 

the  number  of  millions  of  oscillations  taking  place  in 
a  given  substance  each  second,  nor  his  fluent  discourse 
upon  clustered  thirds  and  introductory  ninths,  upon 
nodal  transmitters  and  neutral  centres,  and  upon 
streams  and  waves  of  polar  and  depolar  influence.  On 
these  declarations  this  witness  has  no  testimony  to 
offer.  In  electrical  science  the  world  gladly  accepts 
the  terminology  and  the  philosophy  by  which  the 
specialists  creditably  seek  to  gain  some  practical  appre 
hension  of  the  elusive  mystery  with  which  they  deal; 
elusive,  for  through  all  their  technical  terms  and  fine 
spun  theories,  the  futility  of  their  endeavor  to  gain  any 
exhaustive  comprehension  of  it  plainly  appears.  Ex 
perts  have  their  field,  but  as  Mr.  Gladstone  says  of  the 
Hebraist  and  the  scientist  in  reference  to  the  higher 
criticism  and  the  scriptural  cosmogony,  'their  title  to 
speak  with  authority  is  confined  to  their  special  prov 
ince,  nor  are  they  inerrable  there ;  and  if  we  allow  them 
to  go  beyond  it,  and  still  to  claim  their  authority,  when 
they  are  what  is  called  at  school  "out  of  bounds,"  we 
are  much  to  blame,  and  may  suffer  for  our  carelessness. ' 
'My  contention  is,'  he  says,  'that  there  is  a  ground 
which  the  specialist  is  not  entitled  to  occupy  in  his 
character  as  a  specialist,  and  on  which  he  has  no  war 
rant  for  entering,  except  in  so  far  as  he  is  a  just 
observer  and  reasoner  in  a  much  wider  field. ' 

"  It  is  into  this  wider  field  of  fact,  where  any  can  go 
whose  general  training  fits  him  to  be  in  any  wise  *a 
just  observer  and  reasoner, '  that  this  witness  deems  it 
not  improper  to  enter,  especially  as  he  follows  in  the 
wake  of  not  a  few  who  rank  high  as  experts  in  mechani- 


218  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

cal  engineering,  in  chemistry,  in  electricity,  and  other 
departments  of  superior  culture.  For,  not  only  has 
Keely's  legal  counsellor,  Charles  B.  Collier,  an  experi 
enced  patent  lawyer,  acute,  cultured,  and  discerning, 
given  him  from  the  first  his  sincere  and  hearty  support, 
but  numbers  of  other  men  of  honorable  character  and 
position,  many  of  them  eminent  for  scientific  attain 
ments,  have  given  their  unqualified  testimony  that 
Keely  is  an  original  and  able  investigator  in  an  inter 
esting  and  promising,  though  wholly  novel,  field  —  a 
wonder-worker,  whose  work  seems  to  overturn  certain 
accepted  theories,  and  has  puzzled  and  baffled  their 
learned  advocates.  Yet,  partly,  perhaps,  because  Keely 
is  not  in  the  fraternity  of  college  bred  men,  but  has 
educated  himself  (though  his  writings  show  a  familiar 
ity  with  scholarly  works),  partly  because  his  claims  are 
so  astonishing  and  his  methods  so  incomprehensible, 
and  partly  because  of  premature  predictions  of  a  practi 
cal  issue  of  his  labors,  and  because  also  of  unfortunate 
differences  reported  in  respect  to  the  business  side  of 
his  enterprise,  there  are  comparatively  few  men  of 
public  prominence  who  seem  to  be  willing  to  be  known 
as  believers  in  the  importance  of  his  investigations,  or 
even  in  the  integrity  of  the  man.  At  any  rate,  ridicule 
and  contempt  continue  to  be  thrown  at  him  and  at  the 
faithful  friends  who  have  long  and  nobly  stood  by  him. 
Only  lately  a  prominent  journal  intimated  that  'an 
interruption  of  Keely's  personal  freedom '  ought  to 
result  from  what  it  calls  his  'gigantic  jugglery.'  It 
is  these  unworthy  flings,  together  with  a  sense  of  the 
public  importance  of  the  whole  matter,  which  have 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  219 

prompted  my  voluntary  and  unsolicited  testimony  in 
the  interest  of  truth. 

"  For  though  scores  of  assemblies,  comprising  learned 
scientists,  skilful  engineers,  and  men  of  large  success 
in  the  practical  conduct  of  affairs,  have  witnessed  vari 
ous  experiments  by  Keely  during  the  past  dozen  years, 
and  although  their  clear  and  positive  statements  of 
the  interest  and  value  of  his  researches  have  been 
repeatedly  published  in  leading  newspapers,  with  the 
names  and  professional  titles  of  the  witnesses  given, 
yet  the  general  public  appears  either  to  overlook  or 
forget  all  these  testimonies,  and  to  be  rudely  impatient 
of  every  undertaking  that  does  not  immediately  issue 
in  commercial  success.  Seldom  does  any  public  jour 
nal  refer  to  Keely  in  terms  of  appreciation  and  respect. 
As  his  labors  have  now  reached  some  new  results  which 
only  a  few  persons  have  witnessed,  this  further  testi 
mony  is  proffered  as  information  upon  a  matter  of 
scientific  interest,  certainly,  and  with  a  possible  bear 
ing  upon  industrial  advance. 

"  What,  then,  is  the  testimony  that  the  present  witness 
has  to  give?  After  some  ten  j^ears  of  acquaintance 
with  Keely,  and  after  personally  seeing  many  of  his 
experiments,  'witness  deposeth  and  saith,'  that  Keely 
appears  to  him  to  be  a  man  of  sublime  patience  and 
persistence  in  his  high  purpose,  modestly  esteeming 
himself  an  agent  of  Divine  Providence  in  the  accom 
plishment  of  one  of  the  most  beneficent  revolutions  in 
the  history  of  human  progress ;  a  man  of  wonderful  in 
sight  and  truly  amazing  fertility  of  inventive  genius 
in  overcoming  obstacles  and  in  contriving  appliances 


220  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

for  attaining  his  mechanical  ends;  that  he  is  dealing 
with  and  trying  to  employ  in  practical  mechanics  a 
force  absolutely  new  among  all  the  forces  hitherto  han 
dled  by  man,  although  its  presence  in  nature  is  affirmed 
by  the  theories  of  scientists,  and  demonstrated  by  vari 
ous  observed  phenomena;  a  force  of  mysterious  and 
awful  energy,  boundless  in  extent,  and  literally  cost 
less  as  the  air.  Electricity  is  subtle  and  powerful  and 
illimitable  in  supply,  but  it  requires  constant  and  costly 
expenditure  of  energ}'  to  call  it  into  exercise  and  keep 
it  at  work.  This  new  force,  be}^ond  the  curious  and 
complicated  mechanism  which  this  wonderful  wizard 
has  contrived  for  it  to  employ,  the  harness  he  has 
fashioned  for  it  to  wear,  seems  to  require  but  a  few 
slight  musical  sounds,  the  sonorous  vibrations  of  cer 
tain  metallic  appliances,  to  set  it  in  motion,  and  then 
it  will  keep  in  motion  —  for  all  that  at  present  appears, 
in  steady,  noiseless,  and  almost  resistless  motion — till 
the  solid  metals  of  which  it  is  composed  wear  out. 

"What!  one  and  all  exclaim,  is  the  absurdity  of  per 
petual  motion  to  be  revived  again?  But  the  physicists 
tell  us  there  is  perpetual  motion  all  around  us  in 
nature,  intense  and  all-pervading,  and  always  has  been, 
since  the  hour  'when  the  morning  stars  sang  together, 
and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.'  Here  we 
touch  the  robe  of  the  Infinite  One,  who  'upholdeth  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power. '  Of  him  the  Uner- 
ling  One  declared,  'My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I 
work. '  Aye,  works  unceasingly  now,  in  the  incessant 
and  intense  molecular  vibration  all  the  time  going  on 
in  all  matter;  in  the  solid  oaken  table  by  which  we  sit, 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  221 

in  the  firm  granite  of  the  building  which  encloses  us. 
Action,  motion  in  everything,  by  everything,  every 
where,  all  the  time,  and  swift,  more  nimble-footed 
sometimes  than  thought  almost,  but  with  such  a  soft 
and  easy  pace  that  no  footfall  is  heard,  no  movement 
discerned  save  as  we  take  observation  by  the  distant 
heavenly  orbs  among  which  we  all  here  on  the  earth 
are  travelling,  hurled  along  our  pathwaj-  over  a  thou 
sand  miles  a  minute.  Movement  of  everything  from 
here  to  there,  and  movement  in  everything  while  here 
or  there.  And  so  harmonious  is  the  movement,  on  such 
delicate  anti-friction  cushions  do  the  bearings  rest,  that 
it  is  all  inaudible,  save  to  that  One  alone  whose  ear 
discerns  the  music  of  the  spheres  —  the  spheres  im 
mensely  great  and  infinitesimally  small  — 

" '  Forever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  divine.' 

"  And  only  now,  after  thousands  of  years  of  unheard 
song,  this  great  magician  arises  and  strikes  the  chord 
of  sympathy  to  which  this  vibrating  force  responds,  and 
lo!  it  comes  forth  from  its  secret  chambers  like  the 
mighty  Genius  unloosed  by  the  Arabian  fishermen  from 
the  copper  flask,  and  waits  on  man  to  do  his  bidding, 
bending  its  tough  sinews  and  plying  its  facile  fingers 
to  perform  his  humblest  tasks. 

"And  what  proof  can  there  be  that  this  dream  of 
poetry  and  fancy  of  story  is  in  any  degree  an  accom 
plished  fact  ?  Look  and  see.  Here  is  a  wooden  table, 
sometimes  covered  by  a  heavy  slab  of  glass.  Standing 
on  the  glass  or  on  the  wood,  and  capable  of  being  moved 


222  DASHED  AGAINST  THE   BOCK. 

freely  upon  it,  is  a  metal  standard  say  a  foot  high, 
bearing  a  copper  globe  about  a  foot  in  diameter. 
Around  the  base  of  the  standard  project  horizontally 
numbers  of  small  metal  rods  a  few  inches  long,  of  dif 
ferent  sizes  and  lengths,  vibrating  like  tuning-forks 
when  twanged  by  the  fingers.  In  the  hollow  globe  is  a 
Chladni  plate  and  various  metal  tubes,  the  relation  of 
which  can  bs  altered  by  turning  a  projection  like  a 
door-knob,  on  the  outside  of  the  globe,  at  the  outer  end 
of  a  small  shaft,  round  and  round  to  the  right  or  left. 
This  construction  is  called  a  'sympathetic  transmitter.' 
Some  two  or  three  feet  distant  on  the  table  stands  a 
movable  metallic  cylindrical  case,  some  six  inches  by 
eight  in  size,  composed  of  certain  metal  resonating 
tubes,  and  certain  other  metal  fixtures.  You  take  it 
all  apart  and  see  there  is  no  magnet  there.  You  place 
on  top  of  this  cylinder  a  small  pocket  compass,  a  brass 
cup  two  inches  in  diameter  with  its  glass  face.  The 
needle  points  to  the  north.  From  the  periphery  of  the 
globe  of  the  'sympathetic  transmitter '  extends  a  wire 
of  the  size  of  a  common  knitting-needle,  made  of  gold 
and  silver  and  of  platinum.  The  free  end  of  this  wire 
is  now  attached  to  the  cylinder.  The  needle  is  still 
true  to  the  pole.  Then  the  vibrating  rods  are  twanged, 
the  knob  is  turned,  and  on  a  rude  harmonicon  trumpet 
for  a  moment  or  two  certain  sounds  are  made,  when  lo ! 
the  needle  is  invisible,  it  is  whirling  on  its  pivot  so 
fast.  The  operator  talks  of  the  variant  length  of  waves 
and  of  a  continuous  stream,  and  in  some  instances  it 
is  half  a  minute,  sometimes  three  minutes,  before  the 
needle  comes  to  rest,  and  it  has  kept  in  swift  revolu- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  223 

tion  for  many  hours ;  but  when  it  pauses  it  points  no 
longer  to  the  north,  but  to  a  particular  part  of  the 
mechanism.  You  leave  it  there,  and  are  busy  with 
other  wonders  for  an  hour  or  so.  Returning,  you  find 
the  needle  still  points  to  its  new  master.  You  lift  the 
compass  off,  and  at  once  it  resumes  its  normal  position. 
You  slowly  lower  it  towards  the  silent  cylinder,  and 
when  within  an  inch  or  two  it  obeys  the  new  impulse 
again,  and  points  as  before.  So  also  it  veers  from  the 
north  when  you  carry  it  near  the  knob  of  the  copper 
globe.  As  Gladstone  says,  'Our  hands  can  lay  hold 
of  truths  that  our  arms  cannot  embrace, '  and  though  it 
takes  a  physicist  to  comprehend  this  miracle,  any  care 
ful  observer  can  apprehend  it,  and,  after  seeing  it 
repeated  many  times,  if  he  is  measurably  well  read,  is 
competent  to  testify  that  here  is  a  new,  subtle,  silent, 
continuous  influence,  and  that  it  is  called  into  exercise 
in  connection  with  certain  brief  musical  sounds. 

"  Look  again.  On  this  rude  harmonicon  trumpet  this 
magician  blows  through  a  small  window  into  the  next 
room  towards  a  common  zither  some  ten  feet  distant, 
held  upright  on  a  table  by  a  small  standard  composed 
of  a  group  of  metal  tubes.  The  two  musical  instru 
ments  have  been  carefully  attuned  to  each  other. 
Attached  to  the  back  of  the  zither  is  a  common  silk 
thread  loosely  hanging  and  extending  some  eight  feet 
away,  where  it  is  tied  to  a  movable  framework  of  half- 
inch  iron  rods,  supporting  and  bracing  in  position,  on 
an  isolated  table  of  glass,  a  metal  globe,  fifteen  inches 
in  diameter,  capable  of  turning  freely  in  either  direc 
tion,  on  its  axis,  which  bears  inside  the  globe  certain 


224  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   BOCK. 

resonant  tubes  and  plates,  the  table  standing  at  an 
angle  of  45°  from  the  face  of  the  zither.  Louder  sounds 
the  horn,  till  in  a  minute  or  t\yo  the  metal  globe  begins 
to  revolve.  The  horn  stops,  the  globe  stops.  Again 
the  horn  resounds,  again  the  globe  turns,  and  the 
stronger  and  more  continuous  the  blast,  the  more 
swiftly  whirls  the  globe.  You  snip  the  thread  apart 
with  your  scissors,  and  the  ear  of  the  globe  has  grown 
dull ;  no  sound  can  awake  it  to  motion  again.  Does  a 
man  need  to  be  an  expert  in  physics  after  he  has  seen 
that  marvel  repeated  a  few  times,  and  has  moved  all 
the  apparatus  freely  hither  and  thither,  to  testify  that 
the  rapid  revolution  of  that  metal  globe  was  not  caused 
by  compressed  air,  coming  in  concealed  tubes  from  a 
hidden  reservoir,  or  that  a  silk  thread  is  not  the  high 
way  usually  cast  up  for  electricitj"  to  travel? 

"But  these  are  philosophical  toys.  What  about  an 
engine  with  power  to  help  human  toil? 

"  I  have  in  my  study  a  paper  weight  —  a  disc,  said  to 
be  composed  of  an  alloy  of  three  metals.  It  looks  like 
steel,  measures  two  and  a  half  inches  by  three-quarters 
of  an  inch,  weighs  about  a  pound,  is  enclosed  in  a  brass 
ring,  and  exhibits  no  magnetic  power.  I  am  told  that 
shut  up  in  a  glass  chamber  and  connected  with  the  wire 
which  seemed  to  affect  the  compass,  it  absorbed  some 
seven  pints  of  hydrogen  gas.  The  story  runs  that  it 
was  also  rapidly  whirled  by  a  steam  engine  a  certain 
number  of  hours,  still  in  connection  with  the  apparatus 
from  which  seemed  to  flow  that  subtle  influence  which 
the  needle  of  the  compass  obeyed.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  all  this,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  disc  thus  'vital- 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   EOCK.  225 

ized  in  its  atomic  or  molecular  constitution'  adheres  to 
the  under  side  of  a  certain  metallic  resonant  structure 
as  if  held  there  by  magnetic  attraction,  and  also  supports 
a  weight  hung  to  itself  of  over  .two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds.  Dissociated  from  the  peculiar  vibrating  appa 
ratus,  it  falls  like  any  other  heavy  body,  and  though 
that  apparatus  attracts  the  disc,  even  with  the  attached 
weights,  it  is  incapable  of  attracting  anything  else ;  it 
will  not  support  the  smallest  iron  filing.  Here  then  is 
a  strong  pulling  power  in  exercise  in  certain  circum 
stances  when  two  bodies  are  in  contact.  Can  it  pull 
bodies  together  which  are  not  in  contact? 

"  I  see  before  me  on  a  table  a  glass  jar,  ten  inches  in 
diameter  and  forty-eight  inches  high,  filled  with  water. 
At  the  bottom  lie  three  metal  balls  like  one  I  hold  in 
my  hand,  which  weighs  about  two  pounds.  The  jar  has 
a  metal  cap  to  which  is  attached  the  gold  and  platinum 
wire  reaching  from  the  copper  globe.  I  am  told  each 
ball,  like  every  mass  of  matter,  has  its  peculiar  musical 
chord.  I  am  reminded  of  well-known  facts  of  sym 
pathetic  vibration;  e.g.,  a  large  mill  trembling  in 
response  to  the  note  of  a  neighboring  waterfall,  and 
only  quieted  and  rendered  safe  by  building  on  an 
addition,  changing  its  musical  chord.  And  now  again 
the  rods  are  twanged,  the  knob  is  turned,  the  trumpet 
sounds  and  keeps  sounding  till,  in  a  moment  or  two,  I 
see  one  ball  begin  to  sway  from  right  to  left,  then 
slowly  leave  the  bottom  of  the  jar  and  rise  through  the 
water  till  with  a  bump  it  strikes  the  metal  cap,  rebounds 
a  few  inches  and  comes  to  rest  in  contact  with  it  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Still  the  horn  blows,  and  by  this 


226         DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

time  the  second  ball  responds  in  like  manner,  and  then 
the  third.  Then  the  music  ceases,  and  we  turn  to  other 
experiments,  but  as  long  as  I  stayed  in  the  shop  that 
day  something  made  that  metal  swim.  My  companion 
said  he  had  often  seen  the  weights  brought  slowly 
down,  or  held  midway,  as  shown  by  photographs,  by 
sounding  other  chords.  On  the  top  of  the  jar  lay  cer 
tain  pieces  of  metal.  Keely  said,  'Do  not  remove 
those.  I  once  did  that,  and  crash  went  the  balls 
through  the  bottom  of  my  jar. '  Now  here  was  a  pull 
ing  power  acting  at  a  distance  of  four  feet,  not  capable 
of  lifting  the  weights  through  the  air,  but  before  all 
eyes  lifting  them  through  water.  Can  this  pulling 
power  turn  a  wheel  ? 

"  Here  is  a  wheel  of  stout  metal  weighing,  as  stated, 
seventy-two  pounds,  free  to  move  either  way  on  its 
stationary  axis.  Its  hub  is  a  cylinder  containing  cer 
tain  resonant  tubes  parallel  to  the  axis.  It  has  eight 
spokes,  each  carrying  one  of  the  'vitalized  discs  '  at  its 
outer  end,  the  face  of  the  disc  at  right  angles  with  the 
spoke.  There  is  no  rim  to  the  wheel,  but  there  is  a 
stationary  metal  rim  some  six  inches  wide  and  thirty- 
two  inches  in  diameter,  within  which  the  wheel  turns 
without  touching  it.  This  rim  carries  on  its  inner 
surface  nine  similar  discs,  and  on  the  outside,  attached 
to  each  disc,  a  resonating  cylinder.  The  requisite 
amount  of  the  metallic  volume  of  this  cylinder  is 
obtained  by  inclosing  in  its  tubes  a  few  cambric  needles, 
more  or  less  as  required,  and  curiously  enough,  some  of 
these  needles  at  length  become  magnetic.  Attached  to 
this  engine  is  a  gold  and  platinum  wire,  some  ten  feet 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  227 

in  length,  running  through  the  small  window  to  the 
copper  globe  in  the  other  room,  where  sits  the  man  who 
has  fashioned  all  this.  He  tvvangs  the  rods  of  the 
sympathetic  transmitter  on  the  table  at  his  side,  he 
turns  its  knob,  the  musical  instruments  sound  for  a 
moment,  and  peering  through  the  window  along  the 
line  of  the  wire  his  face  lights  up  with  a  smile  of 
triumph.  He  settles  back  in  his  chair,  and  all  is  still. 
That  wheel  at  the  end  of  the  wire  is  in  rapid  revolution 
before  your  eyes.  You  turn  and  look  with  amazement 
upon  Orpheus  returned  to  earth  again  and  outdoing  his 
fabled  exploits  of  old.  For  by  the  enchantment  of  the 
subtle  harmonies  he  evokes,  too  fine  for  human  ear  to 
catch,  you  see  the  untamed  forces  of  nature  obey  his 
behest ;  that  most  constant  of  all  things,  the  magnetic 
needle,  you  see  charmed  into  fickleness  by  his  magic 
spell;  you  see  balls  of  iron  swim;  you  see  insensate 
matter  —  as  you  thought  it,  but  sensitive  now  to  his 
call  —  leap  forward  into  instant  rotation,  continuous 
and  swift.  Long  we  stand  around  that  flying  wheel. 
The  friend  who  photographed  it  at  rest  again  levels  his 
camera  upon  it.  In  vain ;  its  spokes  cannot  tarry  long 
enough  to  be  caught  by  his  snare.  It  is  still  as  death, 
and  almost  as  mysterious.  We  listen  to  long  disserta 
tions  upon  the  reason  for  the  relative  position  of  the 
eight  discs  on  the  wheel  and  the  nine  on  the  stationary 
rim,  and  how  the  adjustment  can  be  so  altered  that,  in 
stead  of  a  revolution,  there  will  be  a  violent  oscillation 
back  and  forth.  We  are  shown  the  corresponding  wheel 
and  the  rim  of  the  large  engine  close  by,  which  is  to  bear 
the  discs  not  singly,  but  in  groups,  the  steel  resonating 


228  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

drums  with  their  circles  of  tubes  inside,  and  thirty-five 
inch  Chladni  plate  underneath  the  'sympathetic  trans 
mitter  '  on  top ;  the  extra  wheel  bearing  on  its  spokes 
cylindrical  cases,  each  filled  solid  with  a  hundred  thin- 
carved  plates  of  steel,  to  get  the  utmost  superficial  area, 
we  are  told,  and  it  is  all  so  utterly  beyond  comprehen 
sion,  that  we  can  see  no  reason  why  it  should  have  been 
made  as  it  is,  or  how  any  one  can  be  sure  it  will  ever 
run.  But  we  turn  around  and  look  again  on  that 
noiseless  wheel,  still  running  rapidly  all  alone,  and 
confess  we  should  have  said  the  same  thing  about  that. 
And  we  are  inclined  then  to  trust  the  word  of  the 
inventor  when  he  says  the  running  of  the  smaller 
insures  the  running  of  the  larger;  that  the  wheel  you 
see  spinning  so  fast  cannot  be  stopped  by  any  force 
except  one  that  would  tear  it  into  fragments,  unless 
with  thumb  and  finger  you  loosen  that  golden  wire 
along  which  'the  stream  of  sympathetic  vibration  '  is 
said  to  flow,  and  that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  wheel 
should  not  keep- in  motion  till  the  bearings  wear  out. 
"  I  say  nothing  now  of  other  wonders  of  which  other 
witnesses  can  speak,  and  which  are  said  to  have  appeared 
in  the  slow  progress  this  incomprehensible  man  has  been 
making  all  these  years ;  of  a  pressure  obtained  from  the 
disintegration  of  water  by  vibration  of  twenty  thousand 
pounds  to  the  square  inch;  of  a  slowly  revolving  drum 
which  went  no  slower  when  winding  tightly  upon  itself 
a  stout  inch  and  a  half  rope  fastened  to  a  beam,  and  no 
faster  when  the  rope  parted  under  the  strain;  of  the 
disintegration  of  rock  into  impalpable  powder;  of  rais 
ing  heavy  weights  by  aid  of  a  'vibratory  lift,'  recalling 
the  'negative  gravity  '  of  our  modern  story-teller. 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  229 

"  The  engine  you  have  been  looking  upon  requires  as 
part  of  itself  for  some  mysterious  purpose  certain  heavy 
tubular  copper  rings.  Skilful  artisans  failed  in  various 
endeavors,  by  electrical  deposit  and  otherwise,  to  make 
them  right.  The  inventor  contrived  machinery  for 
bending  into  semicircles  sections  of  copper  tube,  one 
and  a  half  inch  bore,  three-eighths  of  an  inch  thick, 
forcing  a  steel  ball  through  them  to  keep  the  tube  in 
shape.  To  make  a  ring,  he  placed  two  of  those  half- 
circles  together  and  joined  the  ends  in  some  way  (with 
out  heat),  by  what  he  calls  sympathetic  attraction,  so 
the  resonant  properties  of  the  ring  are  satisfactory,  and 
though  you  see  the  line  of  union,  the  two  parts  cannot 
be  severed.  You  see  one  of  these  rings,  some  fifteen 
inches  in  diameter,  hanging  by  block  and  tackle  from 
the  ceiling,  and  lashed  to  the  lower  half  swings  a  big 
iron  ball  weighing  five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and 
there  it  has  swung  for  weeks.  Has  the  man  who  has 
done  simply  that,  and  done  it  merely  to  furnish  a  sub 
sidiary  adjunct  to  his  main  contrivance,  won  no  place 
among  the  great  artificers?  Is  it  worthy  business  to 
revile  him  as  a  swindling  charlatan?  The  end  is  not 
yet.  We  shall  see  what  we  shall  see,  or  some  one  will. 
One  thing,  however,  we  see  clearly  now,  and  that  is 
that  John  Worrell  Keely  deserves  the  esteem  and 
admiration  of  his  fellow-men.  Who  does  not  hope 
that  he  has  solid  grounds  for  the  persistent  belief  which 
has  been  his  star  of  hope  these  many  years ;  that  a 
merciful  Providence  is  about  to  confer  a  new  boon  upon 
the  suffering  industries  of  mankind;  that  the  time  at 
length  has  come  when  man  is  wise  enough  to  fashion 


230  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

and  strong  enough  to  handle  the  beneficent  gift  of  a 
costless  motor  to  ease  the  burdens  of  human  toil  ? 

"  Wise  enough  and  strong  enough,  perhaps,  some  may 
say,  but  is  man  trusty?  For  the  question  has  arisen 
whether  a  force  of  such  fearful  energy  as  some  of  these 
experiments  disclose  can  safely  be  entrusted  to  such  a 
being  as  man,  who  can  destroy  as  well  as  build.  But 
why  should  man  have  been  set  to  discover  and  harness 
it?  'I  take  great  comfort  in  God,'  said  James  Russell 
Lowell,  in  one  of  his  recently  published  letters,  'I  think. 
.  .  .  He  would  not  let  us  get  at  the  match-box  as 
carelessly  as  he  does  unless  he  knew  that  the  frame  of 
his  universe  was  fireproof. ' ' 

As  Dr.  Plum  finished  his  amazing  recitation  with  the 
above  apposite  quotation  from  one  of  America's  astutest 
philosophers,  he  declared  his  intention  of  writing  to  the 
Boston  Transcript  as  fully  and  freely  as  he  had  spoken 
to  Professor  Monteith,  remarking,  "  I  am  sure  that 
excellent,  liberal-minded  journal  will  publish  all  I  send 
as  correspondence,  though  probably  the  editor  will  see 
fit  to  make  some  comment,  to  show  that  he  is  by  no 
means  responsible  for  my  acceptance  of  what  to  many, 
I  regret  to  say,  appears  a  monstrous  delusion,  if  not  an 
imposition." 

As  Professor  Monteith  had  very  little  time  remaining 
at  his  disposal  and  his  interviews  with  Keely  were 
necessarily  few,  he  saw  nothing  more  remarkable  than 
what  is  recorded  in  Dr.  Plum's  recital,  but  he  did  see 
the  identical  wonders  therein  described,  causing  him  to 
return  to  England,  pledged  to  exert  whatever  influence 
he  could  command  to  drum  up  recruits,  and  give  the 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  231 

grand  old  worker  at  least  the  assurance  of  sympathy  and 
good-will  from  some  of  the  really  earnest  delvers  into 
nature's  mysteries  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  Boston  Transcript  fully  justified  its  excellent 
reputation  as  an  instructive,  progressive,  family  news 
paper,  by  publishing  without  any  curtailment  the 
extremely  valuable  letter  which  the  good  clergyman  pre 
pared  for  its  columns.  The  letter  was  issued  Saturday, 
January  13,  1894. 

Professor  Monteith  on  his  return  to  London  sent  an 
account  of  these  astounding  mysteries  to  many  of  the 
leading  magazines  and  newspapers,  several  of  which 
gladly  published  all  he  contributed;  only  a  few  were 
mediaeval  enough  to  decline  to  insert  an  honest  com 
munication.  Those  who  declined  to  publish  a  true  tes 
timony  were  of  course  delighted  to  furnish  their  readers 
with  ignorant,  contemptuous  ridicule. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

SPIRITUAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

DETERMINED  now  to  carefully  and  dispassionately 
investigate  every  phase  of  psychical  phenomena  which 
came  under  his  notice,  Professor  Monteith,  on  his  return 
to  London,  wended  his  way  shortly  after  arriving  in 
the  metropolis,  to  the  Bayswater  Metaphysical  Uni 
versity,  where  a  course  of  lectures  was  being  delivered 
on  The  Divine  Science  of  Health,  by  Lady  Copleigh, 
who  had  been  cured  by  purely  spiritual  modes  of  treat 
ment,  of  serious  disorder,  after  the  most  distinguished 
physicians  of  different  schools  had  pronounced  her  a 
helpless,  lifelong  invalid. 

No  sooner  had  Lady  Copleigh  recovered  her  own 
vigor,  and  more,  —  she  had  attained  to  a  state  of  health 
utterly  unknown  to  her  in  days  gone  by,  —  than  she 
entered  actively  into  the  work  of  imparting  to  others 
a  knowledge  of  the  glorious  truth  which  had  been  of 
such  priceless  value  to  herself.  Though  naturally  of  a 
retiring  disposition,  enjoying  a  life  of  elegant  literary 
action,  in  a  delightful  villa  in  the  most  desirable  part 
of  Bayswater;  at  the  call  of  what  she  felt  to  be  her  duty 
to  humanity,  she  did  not  hesitate  to  take  the  platform 

232 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  233 

and  instruct  miscellaneous  audiences,  as  well  as  private 
classes,  in  the  sublime  principles  of  the  esoteric  science 
to  which  she  owed  so  much,  not  only  bodily  but  spirit 
ually;  for  her  whole  nature  had  been  enriched  and 
sanctified,  while  her  physical  frame  had  also  become 
invigorated,  through  her  understanding  and  acceptance 
of  the  doctrine,  that  by  perfect  trust  in  the  All-Good 
as  the  only  Power  in  the  universe  we  can  become  eman 
cipated  from  mental  errors  and  depression  as  well  as 
from  external  ills. 

Lady  Francesca  Copleigh,  who  was  the  president  of 
the  Bayswater  Metaphysical  University,  was  seconded 
in  all  things  by  her  gifted  niece,  Lady  Louise  Hunting- 
ton,  who  had  given  up  an  influential  post  in  Germany, 
as  lady-in-waiting  to  a  princess  very  near  the  throne, 
for  the  sake  of  being  with  her  aunt  in  London,  to  whom 
she  was  deeply  attached,  and  working  with  her  in  the 
great  work  of  usefulness  to  which  Lady  Copleigh  had 
consecrated  her  life. 

Professor  Monteith  was  especially  anxious  to  meet 
this  philanthropic  noblewoman,  in  consequence  of  his 
acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Ajax  Anad,  an  elderly  New 
York  lady,  who  had  crossed  the  ocean  on  purpose  to  put 
herself  under  Lady  Copleigh's  treatment,  and  with  such 
success  that,  though  she  had  been  bedridden  for  years 
and  had  to  be  carried  on  and  off  the  steamer  on  the 
outward  journey,  she  was  so  vigorous  on  the  return  trip 
that,  though  over  eighty  years  of  age,  she  was  nimble 
as  a  girl,  and  able  to  resume  her  position  as  a  public 
reader  on  her  return  to  Brooklyn,  much  to  the  astonish 
ment  as  well  as  delight  of  her  many  friends,  most  of 


234  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROClt. 

whom  feared  she  would  never  return  alive  to  greet  them 
when  they  saw  her  lifted  on  to  the  steamer  to  gratify 
her  insatiable  determination  to  visit  the  renowned 
healer,  who  had  already  been  of  inestimable  service  to 
many  of  her  acquaintances. 

As  Lady  Copleigh  stepped  upon  the  platform  of  the 
college  lecture-room,  in  which  nearly  two  hundred  peo 
ple  were  assembled  on  the  Thursday  afternoon  when 
Professor  Monteith  was  in  the  audience,  she  impressed 
all  who  saw  her  and  felt  her  presence  with  a  sense  of 
holy  dignity,  which  comported  well  with  the  quiet  rich 
ness  of  her  surroundings  and  the  exquisite  folds  of  her 
black  satin  dress,  relieved  with  primrose  flowers  worked 
into  the  fabric  by  the  deft  fingers  of  Lady  Huntington. 
As  many  of  the  attendants  on  that  occasion  were  visi 
tors  new  to  the  teachings,  the  teacher  deemed  it  advi 
sable  to  deliver  an  explanatory  address  of  a  general 
character.  Speaking  in  distinct,  well-modulated  tones, 
earnestly  but  very  quietly  (she  disapproved  of  loud 
utterances),  she  gave  the  following  introductory  dis 
course,  intended  for  subsequent  publication  in  The 
Divine  Science  of  Health,  a  paper  she  was  at  that  time 
editing.  She  took  as  the  text  for  her  remarks  Spiritual 
Physiology  and  Mental  Healing. 

"  In  these  days  of  advancement  in  all  material  science, 
it  is  uplifting  to  know  that  the  spiritual  is  not  dis 
carded;  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  the  above-named 
subject,  we  will  lay  aside  all  negative  or  material 
thought  and  consider  it  from  a  purely  spiritual  stand 
point,  which  is  the  positive  or  subjective,  while  the 
material  is  the  negative  or  objective,  though  all  is  the 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  235 

manifestation  of  Infinite  Spirit,  whose  thought  is  the 
only  real  or  harmonious  thought  in  the  universe. 

"  We  have  no  word  that  I  know  stronger  than  real,  in 
the  sense  I  amtusing  it,  by  which  to  express  the  Infinite ; 
therefore,  that  word  which  is  strongest  and  expresses 
most  power  we  give  to  God,  for  God  is  Real,  Eternal, 
Unchangeable,  Infinite  Goodness. 

"Physical  man  is  the  negative  pole  of  life,  change 
able  and  finite. 

"In  proportion  as  we  expand  beyond  the  erroneous 
view  of  negative  or  limited  conditions  and  contemplate 
the  unlimited  grandeur  and  positive  condition  of  Om 
nipotent  Mind,  we  disperse  the  negative  condition  of 
our  material  understanding  that  the  body  is  our  life, 
and  more  clearly  see  the  All  Good  as  our  real  and 
unlimited  life.  The  existence  of  man  is  eternal  because 
he  is  Mind.  Thought  is  the  product  of  mind.  If  we 
say  we  are  sick,  it  is  mind  in  its  negative  condition 
which  first  projects  the  thought  of  discord. 

"  If  we  have  sore  throat,  we  commence  to  doctor  the 
throat,  in  place  of  seeking  the  cause  of  that  which 
produced  it.  The  same  in  rheumatism :  if  we  complain 
of  it,  we  rub  the  limb  with  liniment,  to  destroy  the 
pain.  So,  generation  after  generation  has  been  piling 
the  imagination  of  disease  upon  disease  in  the  system, 
error  upon  error,  acting  from  the  negative  side  of  our 
nature,  instead  of  seeking  to  learn  of  the  positive, 
which  is  the  understanding  of  God,  or  All  Good. 

"Thus  are  the  Scriptures  fulfilled:  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  are  visited  upon  the  children ;  but  we  are  not 
wholly  responsible  for  that  ignorance  in  which  we  have 


230  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

been  educated ;  our  responsibility  lies  in  not  seeking  a 
better  understanding  of  ourselves. 

"If  the  material  man  is  discordant,  we  consult  the 
sensations  of  the  body  and  trust  much  i;o  medicine  and 
little  to  God,  thereby  extolling  the  body  and  dethroning 
the  kingdom  of  God  within,  apparently  forgetting  it  is 
the  life  of  God  which  permeates  our  organisms  and 
gives  us  of  his  life :  '  Who  forgiveth  all  our  sin  and 
healeth  all  our  infirmities.' 

"None  can  tell  until  they  study  and  take  in  this 
understanding  what  a  power  there  is  in  thought,  imbued 
with  the  law  of  the  spiritual  truth  of  the  Science  of 
Life,  to  heal  the  sick  and  raise  us  above  the  imaginary 
demands  of  the  body. 

"  Let  those  who  are  deeply  versed  in  Materia  Medica 
speak  for  themselves  of  the  error  of  the  objective 
thought. 

"  Dr.  John  Mason  Good,  a  learned  professor  of  Lon 
don,  said:  'The  science  of  medicine  is  an  unintelligible 
jargon,  and  the  effect  of  our  drugging  medicine  on  the 
human  system  is  in  the  highest  degree  uncertain, 
except,  indeed,  that  it  has  already  destroyed  more  lives 
than  has  pestilence  and  famine  combined. ' 

"Dr.  Abercrombie,  Fellow  Royal  College  of  Phy 
sicians,  in  Edinburgh,  says:  'Medicine  is  the  science 
of  guessing. ' 

"Dr.  James  Johnson  said:  'I  declare  my  conscien 
tious  belief,  founded  on  long  observation  and  reflection, 
that  if  there  was  not  a  single  physician,  surgeon,  apothe 
cary,  man  midwife,  chemist,  druggist,  or  drug  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  there  would  be  less  sickness  and  less 
mortality. ' 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

"Voltaire  said:  'The  art  of  medicine  consists  in 
amusing  the  patient  while  nature  cures  the  disease.' 

"Dr.  Abernethy,  in  his  last  days,  said:  'I  have 
studied  the  science  of  drugs  all  my  life,  and  must  die 
confessing  I  know  nothing  of  them  that  I  can  demon 
strate  always  the  same,  so  no  result  is  sure.' 

"Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said:  'I  firmly  believe  if 
the  whole  Materia  Medica  could  be  sunk  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  it  would  be  better  for  mankind,  and  the 
worse  for  the  fishes. ' 

"Dr.  J.  H.  Salisbury  on  'The  Relation  of  Alimenta 
tion  and  Disease,'  says:  'The  idle  ramblings  of  an 
exaggerated  fancy  or  the  senseless  worries  of  morbid 
anxieties  weaken  the  mind;  the  automatic  efforts  of  a 
listless  body  drain  it  of  its  life  forces.  This  is  espe 
cially  manifest,  and  proven  in  handling  disease.  The 
drawbacks  in  a  patient's  restoration  to  health  are  as 
different  in  kind  as  there  are  individuals.  Each  and 
all  of  these  peculiar  drawbacks  arise  from  the  condition 
of  the  patient's  mind,  from  something  he  has  thought 
or  done,  when  they  are  not  caused  by  dietetic  or  other 
infringements  of  rule.  Man  acts  upon  man  at  every 
point,  and  we  all  radiate  to  our  patient  through  every 
pore,  in  every  gesture  and  tone,  our  life  force.  Our 
personal  magnetisms  are  all  in  these,  and  if  we  are 
charged  with  peace  and  good-will,  we  radiate  the  same. 
Diseased  states  are  established  by  complete  absorption 
in  mistaken  habits  of  thought  and  living  through  a 
long  period  of  years,  therefore,  time  must  be  given  the 
life  forces  to  retrace  our  steps  to  health.  Faith  without 
works  is  dead.  Faith  in  the  physician  alone  can  restore 


238         DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

the  diseased  organs,  therefore  it  is  needful  to  seek  the 
root  of  the  cause.  Imagination  is  a  principal  factor  in 
the  cause  and  cure  of  disease. ' 

"With  such  testimony  as  this  from  men  of  science 
and  thought,  whose  characters,  researches,  and  knowl 
edge  we  must  respect  and  be  thankful  for,  does  it  not 
behoove  us  to  search  deeper  for  a  cure  for  the  ills  that 
flesh  is  heir  to,  than  pills,  potions,  etc.  ?  For  'as  we 
sow,  we  reap,'  'as  we  think,  we  are.' 

"The  law  of  God  is  the  law  of  the  universe,  and 
throughout  this  universe  there  is  no  lack  of  vitality,  for 
God  expresses  himself  in  ceaseless  vitality,  and  it  is 
man's  privilege  to  be  consciously  a  partaker  of  it.  The 
mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms  are  partakers 
of  it  unconsciously,  and  thereby  grow  and  are  perfected 
according  to  their  kind. 

"  Man  is  a  compendium  of  his  own  beliefs ;  that  which 
he  holds  positive  in  thought  governs  him. 

"  Mind  is  the  active  force  or  power  of  all  that  is,  and 
the  power  of  mind  is  what  influences  and  constrains  all 
creation. 

"St.  Paul  accuses  man  of  being  so  foolish  as  'having 
begun  in  the  Spirit '  to  think  himself  'made  perfect  by 
the  flesh.'  Gal.  iii.  3. 

"The  spirit  is  the  life,  the  soul  of  which  is  the 
individual  or  real  man;  the  body  is  the  material  gar 
ment  or  negative  form  through  which  the  soul  is  made 
visible.  All  life  is  Spirit,  but  manifested  in  different 
degrees  of  density,  positive  and  negative,  man  being 
the  most  positive  of  God's  creation. 

"  Admitting  this,  shall  we  not  look  to  Spirit,  and  see 


tJASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  239 

that  our  creation  endows  us  with  a  spiritual  individu 
ality  which  permeates  the  multiform  individual  parts 
of  the  physical  system  ? 

"Life  comes  to  us  from  the  ever-present  God,  our 
Father,  and  perfect  health  accompanies  this  life,  for 
God  holds  no  imperfection,  such  as  sickness  and  disease, 
therefore  can  convey  none  to  his  children.  In  order 
to  be  receptive  to  this  health  and  harmony,  all  thought 
of  disease  must  be  unrecognized. 

"Our  minds  are  laboratories  for  the  gestation  of 
thought,  and  as  we  think  upon  the  law  of  Life,  01- 
growth  in  God,  we  realize  that  life  is  as  active  inside 
these  bodies  as  outside  of  them.  Man  can  only  grow  in 
this  knowledge  as  he  accepts  the  reality  of  life  or  God's 
power  within  him. 

"If  man  lacks  the  recognition  of  this  divine  power 
within  -him,  he  lacks  the  recognition  of  the  immensity 
of  God's  love,  and  is  therefore  negative  to  all  discordant 
surroundings. 

"  Mind  does  .not  live  in  or  from  the  body,  but  mani 
fests  its  thought  upon  the  body,  therefore  the  condition 
of  the  body  is  the  compendium  of  man's  own  thoughts. 
It  is  not  something  added  to  that  which  God  has 
created,  but  is  left  to  man  in  his  free  agency  to  govern, 
and  when  governed  by  material  or  negative  thought  it 
is  under  limitation.  Thus  when  I  say  the  spirit,  which 
is  the  life-giving  power,  permeates  the  body,  I  do  not 
imply  that  our  minds  are  confined  to  the  limits  of  em 
bodies,  any  more  than  music  is  confined  to  an  instrument. 

"  The  body  is  the  visibility  of  the  soul  to  ourselves 
and  others,  and  being  the  temple  of  the  Holy  (whole) 


240  DASHED   AGAINST    THE    ROCK. 

Spirit,  we  ought  to  keep  it  pure  and  undefiled  from  sin, 
sickness,  and  disease. 

"God  lives,  and  in  him  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being;  therefore  our  lives  are  linked  with  the  Divine 
Infinite,  and  we  are  finite  copies  of  the  Divine,  for  we 
are  created  in  his  image  and  likeness. 

"In  like  manner,  as  God  manifests  himself  in  the 
universe,  so  do  we  manifest  our  thoughts  upon  our 
bodies.  Physiology,  physiognomy,  phrenology,  etc., 
all  tend  to  approve  this  assertion. 

"All  we  know  of  sensation  in  the  body  is  from  the 
mind. 

"  The  creations  of  the  finite  or  limited  thought,  with 
all  its  deceptions  and  delusions,  must  be  exterminated 
before  we  can  realize  the  God  power  within,  which  is 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  Emanuel,  God  with  us. 

"We  are  a  spiritual  creation,  with  a  free 'will  or 
agency  which  gives  us  the  power  to  hold  our  lives  per 
fect  in  God,  free  from  sin,  sickness,  and  disease;  or 
to  dwell  in  the  negative  or  finite  pole  of  life,  which 
produces  a  changing,  erring,  sick,  and  dying  inheri 
tance. 

"  When  we  acknowledge  our  life,  action,  and  entity 
to  be  from  God,  and  realize  it  in  every  thought,  we  shall 
reason  from  God  —  cause  —  to  —  body  —  effect,  and  no 
more  fear  the  food  we  eat,  the  weight  of  the  clothes  we 
wear,  or  the  atmospheric  changes,  for  we  shall  know, 
i.e.  inwardly,  consciously  understand,  that  God  is  per 
fect  life,  and  that  we  are  in  the  image  and  likeness  of 
that  perfect  life,  and  if  we  hold  to  that  image  and 
likeness,  we  are  participators  of  the  Divine  reality  of 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE    ROCK.  241 

life,  and  thus  eat  of  that  Divine  bread  (love)  and  drink 
of  that  Divine  blood  (truth)  which  feeds  our  spiritual 
thoughts  and  gives  us  every  day  our  daily  bread 
(spiritual  sustenance),  enabling  us  to  be  ever  ready  to 
acknowledge  the  good  and  so  lay  aside  the  way  of  evil. 
To  attain  this  positive  attitude  —  the  law  of  our  life  in 
God  —  we  must  constantly  acknowledge  it,  then  we 
shall  demonstrate  the  true  life  which  God  has  given  us 
—  a  life  free  from  error,  sickness,  disease,  and  suffering. 

"The  world's  statement  of  man  and  God's  creation 
of  him  differ  widely.  The  world's  idea  of  man  attrib 
utes  life  to  the  body,  whereas  all  life  is  from  God. 

"  God  being  our  power  of  action  and  source  of  entity, 
or  real  self,  the  kingdom  within  cannot  be  sick,  dis 
eased,  or  suffering;  this  truth  is  being  constantly 
demonstrated  in  the  practice  of  the  Science  of  Spiritual 
Healing. 

"As  this  positive  truth  submerges  itself  into  our 
lives,  it  exerts  its  mastery  over  our  negative  bodies,  and 
we  do  not  permit  sin,  sickness,  and  suffering  to  hold  us 
in  their  bondage.  The  Science  of  Spiritual  Healing  is 
not  difficult  to  understand  when  we  can  once  lay  aside 
our  old  beliefs. 

"  We  cannot  serve  two  masters :  one  will  war  against 
the  other ;  but  we  can  scientifically  govern  the  body  by 
positive  thought,  and  thereby  learn  more  of  the  un 
changeable  infinite  wisdom  and  love  of  God;  because 
we  learn  by  experience  and  demonstration,  and  con 
sequently  realize  in  our  life  the  positive  truth  of  our 
divine  origin. 

"  Mortal  laws  of  health  are  only  mortal  beliefs,  and 


242  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

beliefs  are  a  force  of  thought  producing  corresponding 
results. 

"The  Science  of  Spiritual  Healing  challenges  all 
material  beliefs  relative  to  man's  life,  and  acknowledges 
God  as  the  centrifugal  force  of  all  life,  for  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being  in  God;  and  how  can  we  live 
in  God  when  we  are  living  a  life  of  suffering?  How 
can  we  move  in  God  when  we  realize  pain  in  our 
movements  ?  How  can  we  wish  in  God  when  our  whole 
being  is  discordant  in  disease?  These  are  questions 
which,  when  answered  from  our  interior  self,  will  make 
manifest  life  and  vigor  where  we  now  behold  sickness 
and  inactivity.  Joy  and  pleasure  will  dwell  within  the 
family  circle  where  now  reign  despondency,  sorrow,  and 
suffering. 

"  When  we  are  able  truly  to  understand  how  the  law 
of  mind  operates,  through  thought,  upon  the  body,  then 
will  we  understand  how  the  law  of  harmony  destroys 
and  puts  under  foot  all  discord. 

"Realizing  the  undeviating  law  of  this  science  as 
fully  as  I  do,  by  my  personal  experience  in  my  own 
body,  and  that  of  iny  patients,  I  wish  it  were  as  broadly 
proclaimed  as  the  anatomy  of  our  physical  structure,  and 
thereby  destroy  suffering  and  crime;  for  the  science 
is  not  only  applicable  to  physical  disease,  but  also  to 
lack  of  moral  rectitude. 

"  To  those  who  are  strong  in  their  religious  beliefs,  it 
gives  them  the  understanding  of  why  they  believe.  It 
not  only  aids  the  unchaste  to  abstain  from  their  errors, 
but  it  enhances  a  moral  purity  which  thinks  no  evil, 
and  introduces  the  Christ  Spirit,  which  knows  no 
condemnation. 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  243 

"Where  this  truth  is  a  mystery,  it  is  from  a  non- 
understanding  of  the  law  of  the  Science  of  Being,  which 
science  is  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed :  when  sown,  able 
to  spring  up  and  bring  forth  fruit  a  hundred-fold;  the 
destroying  of  sin,  disease,  and  suffering  causes  the 
material  world  to  lose  its  hold  on  the  thought  of  man, 
for  those  who  know  and  practise  its  truth  will  be 
enabled  to  keep  their  bodies  in  subjection  and  govern 
them  in  harmony. 

"  Christ,  our  Master,  sent  out  his  disciples  in  twos, 
he  understanding  how  easily  we  are  overcome  by  sur 
rounding  negative  conditions,  and  how  apt  to  turn  to 
the  visible  outward,  instead  of  to  the  invisible  inward, 
for  help ;  and  /  think  he  thus  designed  to  show  us  our 
need  and  ability  to  help  one  another. 

"This  Science  of  Spiritual  Healing  opens  to  us  a 
mine  of  golden  thought  and  practical  truth ;  it  gives  us 
the  law  by  which  the  stronger  can  assist  the  weaker ;  it 
unlocks  the  mystery  of  disease,  and  works  from  the 
harmonious  standpoint  of  positive  truth,  to  make  health 
a  conscious  reality,  a  God-given  birthright. 

"Standing  on  this  rock,  we  are  enabled  to  guard  our 
thoughts  against  the  treacherous  enemy,  sickness,  in 
the  recognition  of  life  from  and  in  God. 

"  This  science  brings  us  into  an  available  nearness  to 
the  true,  life,  which  will  awaken  and  uplift  mankind 
from  a  trust  in  matter  to  a  higher  and  more  ennobling 
realm  of  thought. 

"  You  may  all  ask,  Can  I  acquire  this  knowledge  ?  I 
answer,  You  can  if  you  so  desire,  for  the  laws  of  God 
are  ever  operating  to  aid  us  to  the  attainment  of  noble 
ends  and  God-given  qualities. 


244  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

"A  knowledge  of  the  exemplary  teachings  of  Christ, 
that  God  and  his  creation  are  spiritual,  that  the  whole 
universe  is  moved  by  spirit,  that  all  life  is  evolved 
from  the  Divine  Infinite  Life,  God,  —  Perfection, —  from 
whom  no  imperfection  or  suffering  can  proceed,  and 
with  whom  is  no  variableness  or  shadow  of  turning,  is 
the  truth  and  basis  of  mental  healing. 

"Those  who  have  labored  for  the  welfare  of  souls, 
those  who  h  ive  striven  to  bring  souls  into  the  fold  of 
our  Master,  those  who  have  strengthened  by  their 
might  every  good  society  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  had  they  taught  that  man's  nature  is 
intrinsically  noble,  that  God  is  the  loving,  living  centre 
of  man's  life,  whereby  he  possesses  a  spiritual  inheri 
tance,  in  place  of  presenting  his  sinful  condition  and 
holding  the  fear  of  punishment  over  him,  the  work 
would  have  been  shorn  of  great  difficulties,  many  lives 
would  have  been  spared  to  us  here  which  have  been 
sacrificed  to  false  belief  concerning  fevers,  climate,  food, 
and  discomforts,  and  the  world  would  now  well-nigh 
have  approached  the  millennium;  for,  'where  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.'  2  Cor.  iii.  17. 

"  To  illustrate  the  power  of  mind  in  thought,  —  for  I 
hold  this  to  be  a  truth,  and  truth  is  radical,  it  admits  of 
no  deviation,  not  even  one  straw  one  way  or  the  other, 
—  just  as  two  and  two  make  four,  so  can  this  truth  be 
delineated;  for  example:  retire  at  night  when  the 
weather  is  pleasant  and  the  thermometer  registering 
between  forty-five  and  fifty-five  degrees,  arise  in  the 
morning  and  behold  through  your  window  the  landscape 
clad  in  a  pure  white  fleecy  robe ;  you  shiver,  and  say 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  245 

'  winter  has  come ;  we  must  clothe  more  warmly,  for  it 
is  cold.' 

"What  says  it  is  cold? 

"  It  is  mind,  for  you  have  not  been  out  to  realize  it  is 
cold,  but  on  beholding  the  snow,  you  have  the  sense 
of  cold  and  do  not  realize  that  within  yourself  is  the 
life  principle  which  can  control  all. 

"When  the  viper  fastened  on  St.  Paul's  hand  he 
shook  it  off,  when  all  eye-witnesses  were  ready  to  con 
demn  him  and  expected  to  see  him  die  (Acts  xxviii.). 
Paul  had  a  true  knowledge  of  his  life;  he  had  been 
taught  of  Christ  that  all  life  is  perfect  in  God,  therefore 
no  harm  came  to  him.  Mental  healers  understand  that 
no  sickness  shall  befall  those  who  realize  the  true 
science  of  this  philosophy  and  understandingly  apply 
it ;  for  it  can  be  demonstrated  as  perfectly  as  a  problem 
in  mathematics,  clearly  showing  that  wrong  belief  in 
ourselves  or  progenitors  is  the  first  cause  of  disease. 

"The  work  of  the  mental  healer,  when  called  to  a 
patient,  is  to  inwardly  fix  the  patient's  mental  eyes  on 
the  goal  of  health  to  which  the  healer  desires  to  raise  the 
patient;  the  healer  then  seeks  to  disabuse  the  patient's 
mind  of  old  beliefs,  and  lift  the  thought  to  the  Infinite 
Good  of  all  life  and  the  wisdom  of  his  harmonious 
creation.  The  ethereal  or  real  body  has  its  own  organs, 
which  are  the  essence  or  real  basis  of  the  outer  senses. 

"When  truth  asserts  its  sway  in  our  thoughts,  we 
acknowledge  these  molecular  bodies  as  derived  from  the 
mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms  of  earth, 
formed  from  prepared  dust  of  the  ground ;  but  our  life 
is  the  breath  of  God,  our  heritage  is  dominion  over  all. 


246  DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

We  shall,  through  this  recognition,  come  into  diviner 
rapport  with  the  Infinite  Soul  of  the  Universe,  and 
understand  that  our  life  is  contingent  on  him  though 
contiguous  to  the  body. 

"As  we  battle  against  the  darkness  of  negative 
tKought,  which  tells  us  of  our  suffering  bodies,  the 
finer  lenses  of  the  soul's  consciousness  to  the  realities 
of  life  are  awakened,  and  we  enter  upon  a  truer  and 
more  positive  understanding  of  the  laws  of  our  life, 
which  understanding  enables  us  to  help  the  sick  and 
afflicted,  also  the  drunkard,  the  sensualist,  etc. ;  for 
such  conditions  are  all  aberrations  from,  or  ignorance 
of,  the  truth  concerning  which  Christ  came  to  convince 
the  world,  making  plain  to  all  his  disciples  the  error  of 
sin  and  disease,  by  eradicating  it  in  his  work  and 
teachings,  then  sending  them  forth  to  do  likewise. 

"  Our  Master  came  to  do  our  Father's  will,  which  was 
his  meat  and  drink.  He  came  to  fulfil  all  law,  not  to 
break  it;  i.e.  the  Father's  law,  not  negative  or  man- 
made  beliefs.  Is  it  not  strange  that  we  have  held  on 
to,  the  garments  of  negative  or  material  conditions  so 
long,  placing  life  in  the  body  and  amalgamating  the 
sensations  of  the  body  with  the  realities  of  the  spiritual  ? 

"Healing  by  the  true  spirit  is  a  source  of  increased 
strength  to  the  healer,  for  it  carries  him  or  her  nearer 
to  the  true  source  of  all  life;  still  he  or  she  must 
reserve  time  for  growth,  concentration,  inward  examina 
tion,  and  reflection. 

"  A  study  and  application  of  mental  healing  enables 
a  mother  resolutely  and  fearlessly  to  control  the  health 
of  her  children  and  her  household,  for  during  the  course 


DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  247 

of  class  instruction,  the  truth  of  the  science  of  being  so 
enters  into  her  own  soul  that  a  new  understanding  of 
life  is  born  within  her  which  gives  her  power  over  that 
which  she  once  feared,  and  she  realizes  that  a  true  and 
perfect  expression  of  God  through  man  demands  a  sound 
body:  we  read  in  Holy  Writ  that  Christ  had  a  body 
provided  for  him. 

"  The  positive  thought  of  good-will  manifests  itself 
through  the  mental  organization  upon  the  outward  body, 
and  modifies  the  tenor  of  our  lives,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  anxiety  and  fear. 

"In  reading  this  carefully  you  will  perceive  that 
sickness  and  suffering  are  due  to  material  or  Adamic 
thought,  that  the  pills  and  potions  administered  express 
an  Adamic  or  material  understanding  entailed  upon  us 
through  previous  generations.  Through  the  science  of 
spiritual  thought  we  learn  that  we  can  overcome  our 
material  beliefs,  in  perfect  love  casting  out  fear,  the 
truth  of  which  in  all  its  aspects  I  consider  it  of  the  first 
importance  to  understand,  for  it  opens  the  windows  of 
our  souls  to  the  reception  of  higher  truths  and  a  better 
understanding  of  the  divine  law  of  life. 

" '  If  Truth,  the  inmost  soul,  a  being  share, 
The  universe  becomes  a  book  of  prayer ; 
Prayer  pushes  prayer 
E'en  into  heaven's  sublimest  air.' 

"If  from  what  I  have  said,  any  of  you  get  a  glimpse 
of  how  to  commence  to  rid  yourselves  of  any  physical 
infirmity,  I  shall  rejoice,  I  having  fully  realized  and 
experienced  it  to  be  so  great  an  alleviation  of  physical 


248  DASHED    AGAINST    THE   KOCK. 

infirmities  and  suffering,  as  well  as  the  true  light  of  an 
exalted  understanding  of  man's  nature,  descending 
from  Infinite  Love  into  the  hearts  of  his  children, 
saying  to  the  suffering  and  weary,  'In  returning  and 
rest  shall  ye  be  saved;  in  quietness  and  confidence  shall 
be  your  strength. '  Isa.  xxx.  15. 

"  As  we  receive  the  power  of  the  healing  influence  of 
this  science,  and  demonstrate  its  effects  upon  the 
thoughts  and  deeds  of  mankind,  an  intense  desire  for 
others  to  understand  it  must  burn  within  us,  and,  as 
Whittier  so  beautifully  expresses  it,  — 

" '  The  heart  of  silence 

May  throb  with  soundless  words, 
And  by  the  inward  ear  alone 
The  spirit  voice  be  heard.' 

"Those  who  are  least  anxious  about  their  bodies 
invariably  enjoy  the  best  health. 

"Our  physical  needs  are  very  small.  All  over  the 
world,  in  every  clime,  the  hardest  workers  eat  the 
plainest  food,  and  their  culinary  department  is  of 
the  simplest  character;  a  study  of  which  will  teach  us 
that  all  life  and  strength  is  an  influx  from  the  divine, 
omnipresent  life  of  the  universe,  which  fills  all  space. 

"All  space  is  permeated  with  an  invisible  life  prin 
ciple  ;  we  inhale  this  life  with  every  breath  we  draw, 
and  condition  it  according  to  the  quality  of  our  thought, 
which,  if  good  and  desiring  good,  produces  that  good 
in  and  around  us.  When  God  first  sent  forth  his 
Word  on  this  planet,  it  rested  in  chaos  and  darkness ; 
but  the  Word  had  power,  and  transformed  the  chaos 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  249 

and  darkness  into  form  and  light.  We,  possessing 
divine  attributes  of  perfection  ('Be  ye  perfect,  even  as 
your  Father  is  perfect'),  have  power  within  ourselves, 
by  the  outworking  of  our  thought  in  good,  to  transform 
the  chaos  and  confusion  around  us  into  Light,  Truth, 
and  Harmony. 

"We  should  seek  earnestly  to  realize  the  responsi 
bility  of  thinking  rightly  at  all  times,  when  we  know 
that  so  much  power  is  invested  in  us,  and  our  capabili 
ties  and  possibilities  are  so  grand.  Circumstances  and 
conditions  are  constantly  changing  around  us:  but  this 
power  of  thought  always  abides,  for  it  was  from  the 
beginning,  and  who  knows  aught  about  the  beginning? 
God  ever  was,  and  as  we  come  forth  from  the  breath  of 
God,  the  power  of  thought  must  ever  be,  and  it  is  a 
dynamic  power  in  whatever  way  we  use  it,  whether  we 
are  positive  for  good  or  negative  to  its  opposite. 

"As  life  unfolds,  we  find  the  law  of  growth  ever 
active ;  not  an  atom  in  God's  universe  is  at  rest,  and  in 
harmony  with  this  law  our  thoughts  are  never  station 
ary.  If  we  think  rightly,  the  right  use  of  things  will 
be  ours  to  possess.  If  we  think  wrongly,  we  create 
wrong  conditions  for  ourselves.  O  soul,  send  out  thy 
thought  deep,  long,  and  earnestly  in  the  realization  of 
man's  noble  and  intrinsic  nature;  call  into  this  body  of 
earth  all  the  harmonious  conditions  of  thy  heavenly 
birthright;  tamper  not  with  that  over  which  thou 
holdest  dominion,  and  so  let  it  rule  thee ;  but  arise  to 
a  right  understanding  of  thy  privileges  and  unlock  the 
mysteries  of  thy  power  over  thine  earthly  heritage,  and 
so  disperse  all  thoughts  of  limitation  by  thy  surround- 


250  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

ings;  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  find  that  thou  art  not 
weary  and  heavy  laden  with  the  infirmities  of  sickness, 
disease,  poverty,  and  the  like;  for,  by  positive  knowl 
edge  and  right  attitude  of  thought  toward  the  forces 
around  thee,  thou  canst  draw  from  the  universe  that 
which  thou  desirest,  and  thereby  dwell  in  the  harmony 
of  thy  interior  nature,  which  is  thine  eternal  life. 

"  Perhaps,  some  of  you  may  say,  God  has  ordained  for 
us  sickness  and  trial  as  a  means  to  draw  us  nearer  to 
him,  and  have  I  any  right  to  take  this  positive  attitude  ? 
To  this  I  answer,  God  is  a  God  of  law ;  his  laws  change 
not.  As  we  sow,  we  reap.  He  has  given  us  the  best  in 
all  creation,  and  we  have  no  right  to  refuse  it  or  hesi 
tate  to  accept  it.  Our  hesitation  makes  us  fear;  fear 
makes  us  negative  to  that  which  we  fear,  and  while  we 
fear  we  have  not  the  power  to  think  rightly  of  our 
birthright  possessions;  we  do  not  see  their  intrinsic 
value  nor  are  we  able  to  use  them. 

"  In  all  things  let  us  learn  from  our  blessed  Saviour, 
who  made  himself  a  sacrifice  that  he  might  show  us  the 
way  of  life.  We  never  find  him  fearing  to  do  the 
Father's  will  in  the  non-exercise  of  his  will.  His 
thought  went  forth  in  the  positive  'I  will.'  The  will 
to  do  the  will  of  God  and  so  fulfil  the  law.  In  thus 
doing  he  harmonized  the  forces  around  him  by  casting 
out  devils,  healing  the  sick,  cleansing  the  leper,  etc., 
and  bade  his  disciples  do  likewise:  his  disciples  are 
those  who  do  the  will  of  the  Father. 

"  Can  we  count  ourselves  his  disciples,,  while  we  are 
crouching  in  fearful  thought  to  the  limitations  of  the 
flesh? 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   EOCK.  251 

"Decidedly  not!  We  must  arise  and  put  on  the 
whole  armor  of  God,  regard  well  the  dynamic  power  of 
thought,  and  send  it  forth  for  Good  in  the  realization  of 
freedom  for  the  highest  part  of  nature,  to  check  and 
keep  the  lower  in  bondage.  Then  shall  we  behold  not 
only  a  power  for  good  in  ourselves,  but  a  power  for 
good  to  all  around  us.  Inharmonies,  false  belief,  and 
unreality  will  have  no  part  with  us,  for  it  will  find  no 
affinity  in  us,  as  we  can  only  attract  to  ourselves  that 
which  we  love,  —  love  being  the  cause  of  attraction  in 
all  things. 

"  Knowledge  is  valuable,  and  to  knowledge  let  us  add 
wisdom. 

"'Wisdom's  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all 
her  paths  are  peace. '  May  our  peace  and  rest  be  found 
in  following  the  steps  of  One  who  thought  as  never 
man  thought,  for  in  that  precious  thought  has  rested  an 
adamantine  power  for  the  good  and  uplifting  of  human 
ity,  constantly  growing  in  intensity  throughout  the 
past  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty  years." 

When  she  ceased  speaking  she  invited  questions,  and 
many  were  put  to  her,  all  of  which  she  answered  with 
the  same  holy  dignity  which  characterized  her  appear 
ance  and  her  movement,  no  matter  what  might  be  the 
special  phase  of  her  immediate  activities. 

Lady  Copleigh  and  her  niece  were  well  acquainted 
with  Mrs.  Katzenheimer,  who  had  often  visited  them, 
and  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  Professor  Monteith  to 
find  that  some  workers  in  a  similar  line  of  action  can 
and  do  appreciate  each  other  and  fulfil  the  Golden  Rule 
when  their  conversation  turns  upon  each  other  in  each 
other's  absence. 


252  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

Lady  Copleigh,  who  was  renowned  for  hospitality, 
cordially  invited  Professor  Monte ith  to  take  tea  in  her 
private  reception-room  after  the  exercises  had  ended 
and  the  audience  had  dispersed.  Though  he  had  not 
utterly  recovered  from  his  doubts,  which  still  some 
times  harassed  him,  he  was  no  longer  a  wilful  or  even 
willing  sceptic ;  he  desired  to  know  the  truth,  that  by 
its  emancipating  force  he  might  be  set  finally  free  from 
all  the  clouds  of  uncertainty  and  error  which  still  hung 
over  him,  though  he  rejoiced  to  realize,  with  far  less 
density  than  formerly. 

Lady  Copleigh's  private  conversations  were,  if  pos 
sible,  even  more  edifying  than  her  public  lectures,  as, 
unlike  many  eloquent  orators,  she  had  the  happy  faculty 
of  appearing  at  her  best  in  private,  and  by  means  of  a 
singularly  keen  intuitive  perception  she  knew  how  to 
minister  directly  to  the  precise  need  of  almost  every 
one  who  sought  a  consultation  with  her.  From  the 
rich  stores  of  her  deep  and  varied  knowledge,  gained  by 
a  wide  practical  experience  with  the  world,  in  addition 
to  the  results  of  extensive,  well-selected  reading,  and 
deep  meditation,  Lady  Copleigh  was  the  woman  above 
all  others  engaged  in  her  particular  form  of  ministry, 
who  could  resolve  doubts  and  reply  to  queries  in  a 
manner  to  interest  and  edify  a  man  of  science  and  an 
illiterate  seamstress ;  her  versatility  and  wonderful 
adaptability  to  widely  dissimilar  cases  was  the  secret 
of  her  great  success  in  reaching  the  widely  sundered 
multitude,  who,  by  letter  as  well  as  personal  inter 
view,  sought  her  advice  and  received  instruction  and 
healing  through  her  ministry. 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  263 

Lady  Copleigh  differed  widely  from  all  the  other 
ladies  with  whom  Professor  Monteith  had  conversed  on 
psychic  science.  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  though  very  cor 
dial,  was  remotely  placid;  Madame  Discalcelis  was 
unquestionably  romantic ;  Mrs.  Katzenheimer  was  spar 
kling  and  oratorical;  Lady  Copleigh  was  understand- 
ingly  appreciative,  comprehendingly  sympathetic,  and 
knew  just  what  note  to  touch  to  call  forth  the  best  that 
was  in  her  companion.  As  they  parted,  after  a  two- 
hours  conversation  at  the  tea-table,  Professor  Monteith 
exclaimed  in\vardly :  — 

"  I  believe  I  have  at  last  found  the  key  to  my  own 
nature.  I  will  henceforth  work  to  apply  whatever  knowl 
edge  I  may  gain  for  the  relief  of  those  who  are  in 
suffering;  we  can  well  afford  to  let  the  incomprehen 
sible  alone:  the  world  sorely  needs  workers,  and  I  will 
be  one  of  them." 

As  he  rode  on  the  top  of  an  omnibus  back  to  his 
chambers  in  Oxford  Street,  the  old  text  of  the  previous 
summer  Sunday  evening  when  he  had  visited  the  New 
Jerusalem  Church  in  Argyle  Square  came  back  to  him, 
and  the  words  seemed  to  sound  out  from  the  wheels  of 
the  moving  vehicle  as  it  glided  across  the  asphalt 
pavement,  "  Happy  shall  be  he  who  taketh  and  dasheth 
thy  little  ones  against  the  Rock." 

"I  see  it  now,"  he  meditated;  "blessed  are  they  who 
take  to  the  rock  of  truth,  the  living  stone  of  universal 
principle,  the  offspring  of  the  mystical  daughter  of 
Babylon  (all  that  makes  for  sensual  greed  and  mammon 
worship),  and  bringing  these  falsities,  results  of  erro 
neous  thought  and  practice,  to  the  touchstone  of  reality, 


254  DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

destroy  the  love  of  wrong  and  the  practice  of  it,  through 
the  living,  vitalizing  demonstration  of  truth  in  right 
eousness.  Those  old  writers  are  very  quaint,  and  often 
obscure  in  their  imagery;  I  could  wish  they  were  less 
allegorical  if  the  common  people  are  to  be  their 
audience,  but  I  see  now  they  knew  what  they  were 
talking  about." 

The  omnibus  left  him  at  his  own  door,  the  professor 
retired  early  and  slept  soundly,  to  wake  with  the  lark 
next  morning  to  thank  God  for  a  new  bright  day. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  DAEING  HOPE  FOR  THE  COMING  CENTURY. 

Now  that  Professor  Monteith  had  become  so  thor 
oughly  determined  to  devote  his  energies,  which  were 
great,  and  his  talents  which  were  ample,  to  the  discov 
ery  and  propagation  of  the  highest  knowledge  to  Avhich 
he  could  attain,  even  though  it  should  lead  him  far 
away  from  the  old  ruts  and  grooves  in  which  he  had 
persistently  travelled  for  many  years  with  obstinate, 
though  almost  despairing,  pertinacity,  it  was  a  delight 
ful  recreation  for  him  to  catch  occasional  glimpses  of 
the  new  wonders  which  were  continually  taking  place 
in  Aldebaran's  marvellous  laboratory,  hewn  out  of 
solid  rock  and  utterly  retired  from  the  very  knowledge 
of  the  people,  save  only  the  very  few  who  were  highly 
privileged  in  being  permitted  occasionally  to  enter  it; 
for  his  eager,  restless  nature  must  now  receive  for  its 
needed  sustenance  the  highest  and  truest  revelations 
of  exact  science,  on  both  its  psychical  and  physical 
planes  of  demonstration,  or  suffer  the  agony  that  all 
earnest,  enthusiastic,  highly  strung  characters  endure 
when  they  are  denied  an  insight  into  the  mystical 
arcanum  of  nature,  which  is,  in  truth,  the  native  land  of 

265 


256  DASHED  AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

the  aspiring  spirit,  and  the  only  region  where  it  feels 
truly  at  home  and  satisfied.  Aldebaran,  after  the  man 
ner  of  mystics,  was  a  quiet,  plodding  worker,  prosecut 
ing  his  researches,  often  quite  alone  and  far  into  the 
night,  into  the  mysteries  of  that  stupendous  occult  lore 
which  is  to-day  accessible  only  to  the  few  who  are  in 
direct  communion  with  the  quiet,  unobtrusive  orders  of 
real  scientists,  who  are  proceeding  along  the  same  lines 
as  those  travelled  by  the  veritable  magicians  of  ancient 
Persia,  India,  Egypt,  and  especially  Chaldea. 

Since  the  episode  with  Madame  Discalcelis  on  board 
ship,  and  the  narration  of  her  singular  vision  of  the 
present  state  of  the  planet  Mars,  Professor  Monteith 
had  been  endeavoring  to  construct  a  telescope  on  a  plan 
differing  widely  from  all  plans  suggested  by  modern 
exoteric  astronomers,  and  he  was  beginning  to  hope 
that  his  new  invention  might  help  to  settle  the  existing 
controversies  and  resolve  the  prevailing  doubts  regard 
ing  the  actual  present  condition  of  the  earth's  nearest 
brother  in  this  planetary  group.  Aldebaran  had  on  one 
occasion,  in  the  course  of  an  intensely  interesting  and 
instructive  conversation  with  Professor  Monteith,  given 
out  the  following  idea. 

"A  building,"  he  said,  "pyramidal  in  shape,  two  hun 
dred  feet  high,  one  hundred  feet  at  the  base,  and  having 
at  the  apex  a  disc  with  a  minute  aperture  in  its  centre, 
and  a  triple  combination  of  reflectors,  which  must  concen 
trate  upon  one  centre  which  must  be  focalized  upon  the 
minute  aperture  in  the  disc, —  the  image  being  received 
at  the  base  of  the  pyramid  upon  a  white  surface  prepared 
to  receive  it, —  would  yield  results  beyond  the  dreams 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  257 

of  the  most  sanguine  astronomer  of  the  present  day. 
The  distinctness  of  the  image  taken  would  be  the  most 
wonderful  part  of  the  phenomena,  and  the  size  of  the 
magnification  would  be  limited  only  to  the  diameter  of 
the  base  of  the  pyramid.  This  probably  explains  the 
great  Egyptian  pyramid,  with  its  circular  opening 
through  its  centre  and  cavity  at  the  bottom.  The  ap 
paratus  from  its  summit  has  probably  been  destroyed 
during  some  of  the  many  ravages  to  which  that  land  of 
strange  vicissitudes  has  so  frequently  been  subjected. 
The  Great  Pyramid  proves  that,  among  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  the  knowledge  of  astronomy  was  amazingly 
great,  although  they  need  not  necessarily  have  known 
of  the  modern  telescope  to  have  obtained  it.  The 
almost  impossible  labor  of  making  lenses  is  done  away 
with  in  this  system,  which  embraces  also  a  microscope 
on  a  similar  principle  without  lenses,  far  superior  to 
anything  now  in  use." 

With  Professor  Monteith,  to  hear  of  the  possibility 
of  anything  was  to  feel  incited  to  set  to  work  as 
speedily  as  possible  to  render  the  dream  actual;  in 
accordance  with  which  predominating  impulse,  when 
ever  he  had  profited  by  an  interview  with  Aldebaran, 
his  old  housekeeper,  Mrs.  Mittershoose,  was  perplexed 
anew  with  some  fresh  evidence  of  her  employer's  inde 
fatigable  attempts  to  render  things  "himpossible,"  as 
she  phrased  it,  "right  down  rehalities,  when  God  never 
intended  as  'is  creechurs  should  dabble  in  them  there 
forces  as  belongs  to  'Imself  halone." 

Mrs.  Mittershoose  and  her  school  cannot  be  said  to 
by  any  means  monopolize  the  nonprogressive  senti- 


merits  they  thus  inelegantly  express ;  for,  strange  though 
it  may  seem  to  people  who  prize  original  discoveries 
and  dare  to  think  freely  themselves,  there  are  many  who 
oppose  every  suggested  forward  step  in  science,  while 
—  inconsistent  to  the  core,  as  they  certainly  are  —  they 
make  haste  to 'utilize  to  their  own  pecuniary  and  luxu 
rious  advantage  every  invention  which,  though  now 
fashionable,  was  quite  as  "  impossible"  twenty  years  ago 
as  an  air-ship,  or  any  other  advanced  contrivance  of 
human  ingenuity,  is  supposed  to  be  to-day.  Yesterday 
accounted  the  achievements  of  to-day  impossible;  to 
day,  in  this  respect  no  wiser  than  yesterday,  pronounces 
the  reasonable  prospect  for  to-morrow  equally  impossi 
ble.  But  so  invulnerable  is  truth,  and  so  mighty  are  its 
demonstrations,  that  day  by  day  science  proves  what 
nescience  scorned;  and  so  doubtless  will  it  ever  be,  till 
this  ball  floats  no  longer  in  ether,  and  returns  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Great  Ring  which  gave  it  birth. 

"In  the  next  century,"  protested  Professor  Monteith, 
at  Lady  Porchester's  first  reception  after  his  return 
from  America,  "  we  shall  be  able  to  converse  as  readily 
with  the  inhabitants  of  Mars  as  we  can  now  talk  with 
our  friends  and  business  acquaintances  in  remote  places, 
through  the  agency  of  long-distance  telephones.  While 
I  was  in  Chicago  last  summer  I  heard  a  singer,  who 
was  at  that  moment  singing  in  New  York,  as  distinctly 
as  though  she  had  been  in  an  adjoining  apartment  in 
stead  of  one  thousand  miles  away.  Theodore  Thomas, 
the  illustrious  leader  of  one  of  the  finest  orchestras  on 
earth,  has  engaged  musicians  with  whom  he  has  made 
artistic  acquaintance  solely  through  the  agency  of  the 


CASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  25$ 

marvellous  electrical  inventions  which  are  now  threat 
ening  to  so  completely  supersede  the  old,  slow,  imper 
fect  means  of  converse  between  men  and  nations,  that 
we  may  well  predict  that  in  a  very  few  years  hence 
there  will  be  no  more  difficulty  in  inter-planetary  than 
there  now  is  in  inter-oceanic  communication." 

Lady  Porchester  was  always  interested  in  all  that 
promised  to  fulfil  any  of  the  predictions  which  had 
been  made  to  her  through  the  mediumship  of  Miss 
Poyntz,  and  some  others  of  her  close  friends  who  shared 
with  Katherine  the  enviable  endowment  of  clairvoyance ; 
but  for  scientific  tables  she  had  neither  taste  nor  com 
prehension.  "Leave  these,"  she  would  say,  "to  our 
experts  and  specialists ;  it  is  enough  for  the  rank  and 
file  of  us  to  follow  where  our  generals  bravely  lead." 

Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  who  was  a  very  progressive 
woman,  never  missed  an  opportunity  to  delve  more 
deeply  than  she  had  }-et  done  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
arcane ;  she  loved  mystery  in  one  sense,  but  she  craved 
utility  even  more.  Thus  the  practical  side  of  every  dis 
covery  was  to  her  its  most  important  side,  though  she 
agreed  with  the  Eastlake-Gores  and  Madame  Discalce- 
lis,  that  theoretical  idealism  is  essentially  the  parent 
and  forerunner  of  practical  realism. 

It  was  in  answer  to  the  query  of  the  Reverend  Bear 
Bare  Bayre  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Stillmore  Bayre, —  who 
were  guests  of  Lady  Porchester's  for  a  few  weeks, 
during  a  period  of  severe  financial  strain  in  their  own 
household, —  concerning  the  application  of  the  new  dis 
coveries  to  economics,  that  Professor  Monteith  under 
took  to  show  that  nature's  resources  are,  indeed,  so 


260  DASHED   AGAINST   THfi  ROCtf. 

boundless  that  destitution  is  quite  needless,  and  will 
be  completely  mastered,  directly  the  clergy  and  laity 
together  co-operate  to  make  actual  the  industrial  teach 
ings,  as  well  as  the  purely  spiritual  precepts  of  the 
Christ  they  profess  to  serve. 

On  a  recent  Sunday  evening,  the  Reverend  Bear  Bare 
Bayre  had  delivered  a  touching  sermon,  in  a  Mission 
Chapel,  to  about  five  hundred  working  people,  on  the 
miracle  of  multiplied  loaves  and  fishes,  in  Avhich  he 
had  tearfully  expatiated  upon  the  hundreds  of  thou 
sands  of  able-bodied  men  and  women  in  England  and 
America,  wishing  to  work,  but  almost  starving  because 
the  labor  market  was  closed  against  them.  The  sermon 
was,  unfortunately,  of  a  rather  depressing  type.  Mr. 
Bayre  was  a  sincere  man,  tender-hearted  and  compas 
sionate,  but  not  at  all  practical,  and  almost  totally  desti 
tute  of  organizing  ability;  he  and  his  family  were 
hopelessly  in  debt,  with  which  they  patiently  struggled 
year  after  year  to  very  little  purpose,  while  they  attrib 
uted  to  the  mysterious  dispensations  of  the  Divine 
Hand  what  was  clearly  due  to  their  own  shiftlessness 
and  inefficiency  so  far  as  business  was  concerned, — 
though  none  could  deny  that  they  strove  to  do  their 
religious  duty  according  to  their  highest  light,  which 
some  people  ventured  to  say  was  not  dazzlingly 
brilliant. 

"  How  I  wish  we  were  living  in  Palestine  between 
eighteen  and  nineteen  hundred  years  ago !  We  might 
then  be  privileged  to  see  some  miracle  wrought  by 
supernatural  power,"  pathetically  exclaimed  the  clergy 
man,  when  some  one  asked  him  if  he  honestly  believed 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.  261 

all  he  had  said  in  the  pulpit  the  previous  Sunday 
evening.  "  Believe  it  ?  How  can  I,  how  dare  I,  doubt 
it?  But  alas!  the  age  of  miracles  is  past;  they  were 
granted  only  once  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  that 
was  previous  to  our  Saviour's  resurrection." 

"Indeed,"  expostulated  Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  who 
dearly  loved  an  argument  when  she  felt  sure  of  her 
ground  and  could  readily  discomfit  the  opposition, 
"you,  a  clergyman,  who  must  be  supposed,  not  only  to 
have  read,  but  to  have  studied,  the  entire  New  Testa 
ment,  to  say  nothing  of  subsequent  church  history, 
what,  pray,  do  you  make  of  the  book  entitled  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  which  you,  as  a  minister  of  the  Anglican 
Establishment,  of  course  include  as  a  portion  of  the 
Sacred  Canon  ?  " 

"  What  do  I  make  of  it?  "  queried  Mr.  Bayre,  slightly, 
but  not  wholly,  disconcerted  by  his  fair  antagonist's 
presumptuous  appeal.  "Why,  I  accept  it,  and  preach 
from  it,  of  course ;  and  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  prove 
from  any  portion  of  its  contents  that  the  Roman  Cath 
olic  doctrine  of  continuous  miracles,  which  I  know  you 
hold,  is  a  correct  one." 

"  We  will  let  Roman  Catholic  doctrines  alone,  if  you 
please."  rejoined  Mrs.  Spottiswoode;  "so  far  as  this 
controversy  is  concerned,  all  I  ask  you  is,  how  do  you 
explain  the  obvious  discrepancy  between  your  state 
ment  that  miracles  were  not  needed  after  our  Lord's 
resurrection,  and  the  very  decided  asseverations  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  they  were  performed  many 
years  after  that  event,  in  many  places,  by  many  per 
sons,  and  on  behalf  of  many  persons  ?  " 


262  bASHKl}   AGAINST?   THE   BOCK. 

"Well,  my  first  statement  may  have  been  a  trifle 
unguarded,"  admitted  Mr.  Bayre,  now  clearly  under 
hot  fire ;  "  but  we  usually  believe,  as  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England,  that  during  the  first  century,  cer 
tain  phenomenal  attestations  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
were  considered  necessary  to  establish  the  truth  of 
Christianity  among  the  Gentiles." 

"Indeed,"  continued  Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  smiling 
blandly  and  arching  her  eyebrows ;  "  then  we  are  simply 
consistent  enough  to  maintain  that,  whenever  and 
wherever  what  you  call  a  miracle  is  of  any  real  use  in 
establishing  truth  in  any  part  of  the  world,  that  mira 
cle  is  capable  of  occurring  in  harmony  with  divine 
ordination.  As  to  your  last  Sunday  evening's  sermon, 
which  some  of  my  friends  heard,  and  reported  to  me 
afterwards,  I  can  only  advise  you,  when  next  you  call 
together  an  audience  of  working  people  to  hear  you  on 
'Bible  Miracles  in  the  Light  of  Modern  Needs,'  to  try 
to  supply  some  of  those  modern  needs  a  little  more  fully 
than  you  did  when  last  you  attempted  to  prescribe  for 
them.  Multiplied  loaves  and  fishes  are  literally  no 
chimerical  delusion;  they  represent  supply  to  meet 
demand,  and  were  Christ  on  earth  to-day,  I  think  we 
should  find  him  practically  settling  labor  troubles, 
rather  than  sentimentally  deploring,  as  so  many  clergy 
men  and  others  do,  what  they  are  pleased  to  term  the 
inexpressible  sadness  of  the  present  situation.  I,  for 
one,  believe  that  to-day  were  we  to  trust  ourselves 
unreservedly  to  follow  our  best  inclinations,  and  co-op 
erate  where  now  we  compete,  first  in  thought,  then  in 
action,  we  should  soon  see  ushered  in  a  bright,  happy 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  263 

age  of  peace  and  plenty,  which  could  well  be  described 
as  a  time  when  all  could  eat  until  satisfied,  and  leave 
over  and  above  the  limit  of  their  consumption  what  is 
signified  in  Scripture  by  twelve  basketfuls  of  frag 
ments." 

"I  seldom  argue,"  meekly  retorted  Mr.  Bayre,  "and 
when  I  do,  it  is  rarely  with  a  woman,  but  I  must  say 
there  is  ingenuity  in  your  interpretations,  and  plausi 
bility  in  your  predictions ;  at  the  same  time  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  words  are  contained  in  Holy  Scrip 
ture,  'The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you.'  Our  Lord 
said  that;  and  'The  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of  the 
land. '  David,  I  believe,  declared  the  latter.  I  fear  it 
is  a  part  of  God's  inscrutable  decree,  that  poverty  on 
earth  will  continue  as  long  as  seedtime  and  harvest." 

How  long  or  how  brisk  this  discussion  might  have 
become  had  it  not  been  arrested  by  the  entrance  of  Mr. 
Eastlake-Gore,  full  of  purposeful  animation  and  in  his 
brightest  mood,  it  would  be  difficult  to  conjecture,  as 
Mrs.  Spottiswoode  had  ready  answers  for  all  the  clergy 
man  might  advance;  but  a  happy  turn  was  given  to 
the  conversation  by  Mr.  Gore  exclaiming,  as  he  shook 
hands  heartily  with  Professor  Monteith :  — 

"  I,  too,  have  seen  your  mystic,  Aldebaran,  and  I  am 
greatly  pleased  with  him ;  he  told  me  more  in  an  hour 
than  one  usually  learns  from  inventors  in  a  lifetime.  I 
took  notes  of  our  conversation,  and  think  I  can  by  this 
time  say  without  presumption  that  I  can  fairly  state 
some  of  his  amazing  propositions,  and,  further,  that  I 
have  witnessed  more  than  a  few  intensely  interesting 
demonstrations.  In  my  opinion,  among  the  most  in- 


264  DASHED  AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

teresting  experiments  which  can  possibly  be  proved  by 
the  general  experimentalist  are  the  phenomena  of 
color  produced  by  vibration.  Vibrations  necessary  to 
the  production  of  colors  are  very  high,  reaching  to 
millions  of  vibrations  per  second.  The  true  relation 
between  the  vibration  and  the  color  can  only  be  a  har 
monic  one,  as  colors  commence  in  the  millions  and  end 
not  lower  than  in  trillions  of  vibrations  per  second. 
The  conditions  essential  to  this  class  of  phenomena  are, 
first,  a  condition  relating  to  the  structure  in  which 
they  take  place,  free  from  all  •  extraneous  vibrations ; 
the  experimenter's  presence  even  influences  to  a  great 
extent  the  motions  of  the  molecules  used  in  the  experi 
ments.  A  bath  is  employed,  arranged  so  that  light  rays 
can  be  projected  upon  it  at  certain  angles,  and  from 
that  upon  a  screen.  The  bath  must  have  what  are 
termed  centres  of  association  and  concentration,  and 
suspended  across  its  surface  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
centres  approach  very  near  the  surface  of  the  liquid, 
which  is  preferably  water,  whose  surface  must  be  free 
from  all  films.  Upon  this  is  dropped  a  single  drop  of 
naphtha  dissolved  in  ether,  which  constantly  spreads 
over  the  surface  and  gradually  evolves  most  beautiful 
variations  of  color.  The  vibrations  are  transmitted 
from  an  instrument  capable  of  producing  vibrations  of 
varying  intensity  and  pitch,  across  the  line  of  resonat 
ing  centres,  nine  in  number.  The  first  centre  shows  a 
light  straw  color,  condensing  about  the  centre ;  the  second 
shows  a  very  dark  straw  color;  the  third  exhibits  an 
orange  red;  the  fourth,  a  bluish  red;  the  fifth  is  largely 
green.  The  entire  gamut  ranges  from  a  very  light 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   KOCK.  265 

yellow  to  a  dark  blue.  The  theory  is  that  the  vibra 
tions  produced  gather  certain  numbers  of  the  molecules 
together  about  the  centres,  which  represent  different 
ranges  of  motion,  and  which  by  the  color  evolved 
affords  a  demonstration  of  a  certain  connection  between 
that  vibration  and  the  color  it  educes.  Under  different 
conditions,  using  films  suspended  in  the  air,  and  light 
passing  through  these  films  under  polarization,  (polar 
ized  light)  the  vibrations  influence  the  molecules  in  the 
film,  producing  again  exhibitions  of  varying  colors 
when  projected  upon  a  screen.  Experiments  of  this 
kind  are  most  difficult,  on  account  of  the  unstable 
conditions  found  everywhere. 

"  The  experiments  to  which  I  have  called  attention 
thus  imperfectly,"  continued  Mr.  Gore,  "are  by  no 
means  all  that  I  have  witnessed,  but  it  seems  that  the 
directions  necessary  to  be  obeyed  for  securing  more 
wonderful  results  are  of  so  elaborate  and  intricate  a 
nature  that  they  suggest  the  laboratory  of  an  alchemist, 
rather  than  a  drawing-room  table  in  Lady  Tomlinson's 
house  in  Norwood,  where  I  saw  the  fact  demonstrated, 
in  company  with  many  others,  one  evening  after 
dinner." 

"  What  you  say  calls  to  my  mind  an  incident  concern 
ing  one  of  my  parishioners,"  pursued  the  Reverend  Bear 
Bare  Bayre ;  "  she  was  totally  deaf,  and  used  to  tell  me 
that,  though  she  could  not  hear  my  sermons,  she  some 
times  went  to  church  to  look  at  them  and  found  them 
curiously  interesting,  though  a  trifle  monotonous,  as 
the  colors  I  gave  forth  while  preaching  were  not  par 
ticularly  brilliant  and  rather  too  much  of  a  sameness ; 


266  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

but  she  told  me  that  when  I  became  unusually  animated 
the  sight  was  far  more  entertaining,  as  at  such  times, 
instead  of  drabs,  grays,  and  browns  in  constant,  un 
broken  succession,  she  would  see  bright,  vivid  amber, 
purple,  green,  and  scarlet,  and  occasionally  a  charm 
ingly  variegated  array  of  beautiful  forms  as  well  as 
colors.  Another  of  my  parishioners,  who  is  also  deaf, 
is  acquainted  with  the  experiments  of  Mrs.  Watts- 
Hughes,  and  has  been  privileged  to  witness  exquisitely 
convoluted  shells,  many-petalled  flowers,  and  other 
pleasing  forms  appear  in  response  to  a  singer's  voice. 
Every  tone,  it  appears,  has  its  own  special  form,  as  well 
as  color,  and  by  increasing  the  volume  of  tone  and 
raising  the  pitch,  you  can  increase  the  brightness  of 
the  color  and  often  the  size  and  complexity  of  the 
form;  and  by  lowering  the  pitch  or  decreasing  the 
volume  of  the  sound,  you  can  render  the  color  paler, 
and  also  contract  the  form  it  produces." 

"My  daring  hope  for  the  very  early  part  of  the  next 
century,"  said  Mr.  Gore,  when  the  Reverend  Bayre  had 
ceased  speaking,  "  is  that  some  of  us  will  have  learned 
to  so  perfectly  master  the  mysterious  force  of  vibration 
that  we  can  destroy  immense  buildings,  and  even  pul 
verize  rocks  and  mountains  if  we  desire  to  do  so,  en 
tirely  through  the  agency  of  sound.  I  do  not  regard 
the  Bible  narratives  as  myths ;  they  are  to  me  a  scien 
tific  revelation,  dim  in  places,  I  grant,  but,  nevertheless, 
storehouses  abundantly  filled  with  the  vast  knowledge 
accumulated  by  the  truly  learned  in  ancient  times  and 
distant  lands.  The  walls  of  Jericho  were  made  to  fall 
through  vibrating  energy,  directed  against  them  by 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK.  267 

skilful  experts  in  the  use  of  machinery  (intensely 
simple,  but  wonderfully  effective)  in  use  in  those  days ; 
and  I  believe  most  firmly  that  when  we  come  to  know 
a  little  more  than  we  know  yet  of  how  to  manipulate 
the  force  of  sound,  we  shall  literally  remove  mountains 
through  an  application  of  the  law  of  vibration.  The 
omnipresent  ether  is  at  the  service  of  any  man  who 
truly  masters  a  few  simple  facts  in  mystic  chemistry, 
and  to  the  mastery  of  these  facts  I  know  our  good  friend 
Professor  Monteith  is  now  most  earnestly  devoting  his 
best  energies,  and  not  in  vain ;  for  if  I  mistake  not,  it 
will  be  but  a  very  few  years  (possibly  only  a  question 
of  months)  before  we  shall  see  a  result  of  his  painstak 
ing  assiduity,  the  scope  and  wonder  of  which  it  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  state,  at  all  events,  till  his 
invention  has  progressed  a  little  further,  or  until  he 
feels  quite  confident  as  to  the  outcome  of  his  labors." 

Mrs.  Stillmore  Bayre,  who  was  a  timorous  woman, 
afraid  of  all  new  inventions, —  one  who  honestly  pre 
ferred  a  dip  candle  and  a  pair  of  snuffers  to  an  electric 
light  in  her  bedroom, —  expressed  mild  interest,  not 
unmixed  with  apprehension,  while  listening  to  the  new 
theories  which  were  so  often  and  freely  ventilated  at 
Lady  Porchester's.  Like  a  celebrated  Frenchwoman 
of  a  past  century,  she  believed  not  in  ghosts,  but,  never 
theless,  she  feared  them.  Does  not  this  strange  incon 
sistency  characterize,  in  the  present  day,  thousands, 
one  might  almost  say  millions,  in  the  civilized  por 
tions  of  the  world  ? 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

ELECTRO-HOMEOPATHY. 

LADY  PORCHESTER  was  taken  ill  suddenly;  no  one 
knew  what  caused  the  attack,  but  one  evening  about 
half-past  seven,  before  the  cloth  was  removed  from  the 
dinner-table,  Miss  Poyntz,  who  was  alone  with  her 
ladyship,  was  surprised  by  a  faint,  dull,  gurgling 
sound,  and  looking  up,  saw  that  Lady  Porchester's 
face  was  purple,  her  eyes  distended,  and  her  whole 
aspect  one  of  strained,  speechless  agony.  Heart-failure 
was  her  first  thought,  as  it  was  a  catastrophe  she 
always  feared;  and  now,  in  utter  helplessness,  she 
convulsively  rung  the  bell  and  summoned  all  the  ser 
vants  she  could  muster,  who  were  collectively  even 
more  powerless  than  herself  to  do  anything  but  stare, 
and  weep,  and  offer  to  fly  for  a  physician,  when  Mrs. 
Spottiswoode  appeared  upon  the  scene  as  if  by  magic, 
and  in  her  strong,  peremptory  manner  insisted  that  her 
ladyship  should  be  at  once  removed  to  her  own  cham 
ber,  and  approached  by  no  one  save  Miss  Poyntz  and 
herself.  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  commanded  the  servants 
not  to  send  for  any  doctor,  and  to  answer  no  inquiries 
at  the  door  which  might  concern  her  ladyship,  further 

268 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   BOCK.  269 

than  to  say  that  Miss  Poyntz  would  receive  all  who 
might  call  on  business. 

Mrs.  Spottiswoode  had  studied  medicine  in  Paris ;  she 
was  a  thorough  anatomist  and  physiologist,  though  she 
had  never  completed  her  medical  studies  to  the  point  of 
receiving  a  physician's  diploma.  During  a  residence 
of  several  months  in  Bologna,  she  had  thoroughly  in 
vestigated  the  merits  of  Count  Cesare  Mattel's  extraor 
dinary  medical  discovery,  and  had  personally  enjoyed 
many  edifying  interviews  with  the  Count  himself  at 
his  magnificent  castle,  La  Rochetta,  to  which  only 
privileged  guests  are  usually  admitted.  She  had  found 
this  extraordinary,  enterprising  nobleman  noble  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  brave,  philanthropic,  cultured,  sin 
cere,  and  kindly,  and  what  had  impressed  her  as  much 
as  anything  was  that,  though  between  eighty  and 
ninety  years  of  age,  he  was  young,  vigorous,  and 
athletic,  possessed  of  seemingly  boundless  vitality, 
fully  demonstrating  in  his  own  person  the  truthfulness 
of  the  claim,  so  often  maliciously  or  ignorantly  denied, 
that  he  has  made  one  of  the  very  greatest  discoveries 
of  the  century.  The  discovery  of  the  Mattel  remedies 
may  be  in  some  measure  traced  to  the  instinct  of  a  dog ; 
and  this  is  not  singular  when  one  reflects  upon  with 
what  perfection  inborn  instinct  works  in  those  lower 
creatures  of  the  Almighty,  who  have  no  pride  of  self- 
reason,  and  act  in  no  way  against  the  impulses  which 
God  has  graciously  given  them  to  preserve  them  in 
health  and  repair  their  wounds  if  they  have  met  with 
misadventures . 

Mrs.  Spottiswoode  never  did  anything  by  halves;  she 


270  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

was  heart  and  soul  in  all  she  undertook;  so,  after 
thoroughly  satisfying  herself  that  the  Count's  reme 
dies  were  indeed  peerless,  she  enrolled  herself  as  one 
of  his  warmest  friends  and  most  enthusiastic  disciples 
and  defenders.  Lady  Porchester's  case  she  understood 
at  a  glance,  and  at  once  administered  one  of  the  reme 
dies,  which  she  always  carried  with  her  in  case  of 
need  for  their  use  arising.  Without  any  difficulty, 
she  succeeded  in  quickly  overcoming  the  painful  symp 
toms  which  had  so  terrified  Miss  Poyntz,  and  before 
many  minutes  were  over  her  ladyship,  though  still 
unconscious,  looked  quite  natural,  and  seemed  to  be 
sleeping  peacefully. 

"I  shall  stay  here  all  night  to  watch  the  case  and 
keep  you  company,  Katherine;  I  must,  therefore,  ask 
you  to  dispatch  a  servant  to  my  residence  with  a  note, 
directing  my  maid  to  pack  my  Gladstone  bag  and 
include  in  its  contents  a  full  case  of  the  Mattei  reme 
dies,  which  she  knows  exactly  where  to  find,  as  I  take 
care  that  they  shall  always  be  at  my  call  whenever  I 
require  them.  This  is  a  serious,  but  in  my  hands  not 
a  dangerous,  case,"  said  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  to  Miss 
Poyntz,  as  soon  as  both  ladies  were  satisfied  that  Lady 
Porchester  was  in  no  suffering  and  needing  no  imme 
diate  attention;  "but  if  her  spectacled,  bombastic 
nephew,  or  any  other  conceited  medical  puppy,  were 
to  try  his  bungling  skill  with  her,  it  is  very  doubtful, 
in  my  opinion,  if  she  would  survive  his  mismanage 
ment  of  the  case.  I  do  not  intend  to  alarm  you  further, 
my  faithful  friend,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  console  you 
with  the  positive  assurance,  if  you  can  but  accept  it, 


DASHED   AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  271 

that  your  dear  friend  aud  mine  is  not  in  any  danger 
whatever  if  she  is  judiciously  treated,  and  as  I  know 
her  as  well  as  any  one,  and  have  a  permanent  invita 
tion  to  make  this  house  my  home  whenever  I  wish  to, 
for  as  long  a  period  as  I  desire,  you  and  I  must  agree 
to  be  good  comrades  for  the  next  six  weeks  at  least. 
The  Eastlake-Gores,  Madame  Discalcelis,  and  my 
brother  can  be  admitted  whenever  they  call,  but  further 
than  this  very  limited  number  of  visitors,  I  cannot 
allow  callers  to  enter.  How  glad  I  am  the  Bayres  left 
yesterday;  for,  good-hearted  people  though  they  are, 
their  lugubrious  countenances  and  pessimistic  prophesy- 
ings,  coupled  with  their  ardent  devotion  to  the  oldest 
type  of  calomel-administering  allopathy,  would  prove  a 
detrimental  element,  against  which  it  would  be  diffi 
cult  to  contend  successfully  without  cruelly  wounding 
the  abnormally  sensitive  feelings  of  these  long-time 
pensioners  on  her  ladyship's  bounty." 

To  administer  the  Mattei  remedies  in  extreme  cases 
requires  patience  and  vigilance,  though  in  all  ordinary 
instances  their  administration  is  so  simple  that  it  is 
quite  within  the  grasp  of  an  intelligent  child  not  over 
fourteen  years  of  age.  No  difficulties  attend  the  giv 
ing  of  the  remedies  at  any  time  if  they  are  placed  in 
the  hands  of  an  intelligent  person,  but  the  directions 
are  that,  whenever  the  vitality  is  very  low,  the  dilu 
tions  should  be  given  regularly  at  very  frequent  inter 
vals,  necessitating,  consequently,  continual  attendance 
upon  the  patient. 

For  this  work  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  was  particularly 
well  adapted,  as  she  was  the  proud  possessor  of  com- 


272  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

plete  control  over  both  her  nerves  and  muscles.  She 
could  wake  and  sleep  at  will,  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night;  her  hands  never  trembled,  her  sight  never 
wavered,  and  her  intellect  was  amazingly  perspicacious. 
Her  great  success  as  a  journalist  and  reporter  when  she 
was  only  a  girl,  arose  mainly  from  the  fact  that  she 
could  keep  awake  the  whole  night  if  need  be,  to  report 
speeches  or  transcribe  notes,  and  the  work  she  did  at 
such  a  time  would  be  as  good  as  her  best,  free  from  any 
important  inaccuracies,  and  finished  in  as  creditable  a 
manner  as  though  she  had  been  working  in  the  middle 
of  the  day,  in  the  most  accommodating  circumstances. 
When  this  talented  woman  espoused  the  cause  of  electro- 
homeopathy,  many  of  its  unscrupulous  enemies  began  to 
tremble,  as  with  her  legal  intellect  and  singular  command 
of  logic,  she  could  attack  instantly  and  most  effectively 
the  vulnerable  places  in  the  armor  of  the  opposition,  no 
matter  how  clever  the  attempt  might  be  on  the  part  of 
its  wearers  to  cover  up  its  defects  and  unsoundness. 

Lady  Porchester  slept  from  eight  till  ten  o'clock,  and 
then  partially  awakened,  moaning  slightly,  and  moving 
restlessly  upon  her  pillow.  When  she  found  herself 
in  her  own  bed,  with  Katherine  and  Lavinia  beside 
her,  she  appeared  only  slightly  confused,  and  asked  in 
a  dazed  voice :  — 

"  How  did  I  get  here,  and  what  has  happened  to  me  ? 
I  must  have  fallen  asleep  at  dinner  and  you  carried  me 
upstairs  while  I  was  insensible." 

Though  not  in  pain,  Lady  Porchester  was  very  weak 
as  well  as  drowsy,  and  soon  fell  asleep  again  under 
Mrs.  Spottiswoode's  careful  attention;  but  it  was  plain 


DASHED  AGAINST  THE   BOCK.  273 

to  be  seen  that  her  ladyship  was  not  long  for  this  world 
unless  the  centres  of  vitality  could  be  greatly  stimu 
lated,  and  that  speedily,  in  her  debilitated  system, 
which  had  slowly  but  surely  succumbed  to  the  insidi 
ous  invasion  of  a  cancer  in  the  stomach. 

Mrs.  Spottiswoode  wisely  refrained  from  making 
known,  either  to  Lady  Porchester  or  to  Miss  Poyntz, 
the  nature  of  the  disease  she  was  evicting,  as  in  most 
instances  it  is  highly  desirable  to  keep  secret  the  re 
sults  of  a  diagnosis,  when  the  nature  of  the  derange 
ment  is  such  as  to  cause  grave  fears  in  the  minds  of 
timid,  superstitious  people,  and  such  people  constitute 
an  overwhelming  majority  in  every  community. 

"  It  may  be  seriously  questioned  by  mental  healers, 
and  all  who  are  interested  in  mental  healings,  whether 
it  is  legitimate  to  employ  remedies  in  any  case,  as, 
according  to  metaphysical  teachings  on  the  subject  of 
therapeutics,  all  diseases  are  mental,  and  can  only  be 
conquered  mentally.  A  reasonable,  dispassionate  view 
of  this  important  subject  seems  to  be  that,  so  long  as 
man  exists  on  earth  and  operates  through  an  external 
body,  requiring  food  as  well  as  raiment,  all  such 
varieties  of  food  as  may  be  best  adapted  to  the  varying 
needs  of  the  system  would  be,  in  a  perfectly  natural 
condition,  instinctively  selected  by  the  individual  to 
supply  his  own  necessities,  but  there  is  no  warrant  for 
assuming  that  in  the  most  ideal  condition  of  terrestrial 
existence  we  shall  eat  and  drink  nothing.  The  sensa 
tional  professional  faster,  who  succeeds  in  dragging  out 
a  morbid  existence  of  a  month  or  more,  almost  if  not 
entirely  without  nutriment,  is  not  in  any  sense  a  dem- 


274  DASHED   AGAINST    THE   ROCK. 

onstration  of  man's  ability  to  live  without  food,  but 
quite  the  reverse,  as  his  enforced  idleness  and  emaci 
ated  condition  prove  that,  though  it  may  be  possible 
to  exist  for  forty  days  or  more  on  mineral  waters  and 
cracked  ice,  the  work  of  the  world  cannot  be  done  by 
people  whose  menu  is  so  restricted.  Poisons  should  be 
entirely  eliminated  from  the  pharmacopoeia;  but  not 
until  we  have  all  reached  a  plane  of  psychical  develop 
ment  where  we  can  successfully  dispense  with  all  exter 
nal  agencies  are  we  justified  in  refusing  the  aids  which 
nature  offers  in  the  almost  boundless  resources  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom, —  resources  so  copious  that  when 
we  truly  understand  their  powers  and  usefulness  we 
shall  turn  no  longer  to  the  mineral  for  assistance,  nor 
shall  we  dabble  in  poisons,  the  very  mention  of  which 
strikes  terror  wherever  they  are  introduced." 

So  spake  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  when  a  brave,  decided 
advocate  of  mental  treatment  pure  and  simple  expostu 
lated  with  her  upon  her  advocacy  of  the  Mattei  reme 
dies.  Mrs.  Fotheringill  was  an  able  advocate  of  mental 
therapeutics,  and  a  fearless  one;  she  had  also  been  a 
patient  of  Dr.  Notluf,  the  eminent  homeopathic  special 
ist  of  St.  Catherine's  Hospital,  Mount  Royal;  and,  to 
accentuate  her  position  and  prove  that  she  was  on  firm 
ground,  even  in  the  estimation  of  some  of  the  more 
advanced  members  of  the  medical  fraternity,  she  pro 
duced  and  read  the  following  letter,  which  she  had 
recently  received  from  this  thoroughly  competent  and 
successful  physician,  to  whom  she  had  for  experiment's 
sake  presented,  on  Mrs.  Spottiswoode 's  recommenda 
tion,  the  claims  of  the  Mattei  remedies.  She  was 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  KOCK.  275 

desirous  of  hearing  what  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  might  have 
to  say  in  answer  to  the  learned  doctor's  position  on  the 
remedies  she  was  so  faithfully  employing  in  her  con 
stant  attendance  upon  the  feeble,  but  convalescent, 
Lady  Porchester. 

ST.  CATHERINE'S  HOSPITAL,  MOUNT  ROYAL. 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  FOTHERINGILL  :  How  is  it  you  so  emphati 
cally  indorse  the  Mattei  remedies,  and  you  a  teacher  of  mental  and 
spiritual  science?  Is  it  not  easy  to  concede  their  virtues  to  the 
faith  put  in  them,  or  the  spiritual  state  of  the  one  who  gives  them, 
rather  than  in  the  pilule  itself?  I  must  state  for  you  a  fact  in  my 
experience  with  them.  During  1891  and  1892,  I  largely  used  Mat 
tei  remedies  for  cancer  cases,  without  good  results,  for  every  case 
but  one  ended  fatally,  and  that  case  has  taken  the  remedies  over  two 
years,  and  abandoned  the  treatment  at  last  as  a  bad  job. 

I  have  used  the  remedies  in  many  other  cases ;  in  some  cases  with 
fine  results,  in  others  no  good  at  all  was  derived.  My  conclusion  is, 
they  are  not  as  effectual  as  ordinary  homeopathic  remedies  well  se 
lected.  For  your  own  gratification  I  state,  that  during  1893  I  have 
practised  mental  or  spiritual  healing  with  grand  results,  using  no 
medicine,  and  curing  tumors  and  cancers  in  two  weeks,  after  the 
patient  had  suffered  over  two  years  and  doctored  all  the  time 
besides ! 

Such  results  transcend  all  drug  experience  of  any  school  of  med 
ication  that  I  know  of.  I  seem  to  be  obliged  to  use  medicines  in 
most  cases  to  retain  the  patients.  If  the  great  central  truth  is,  tliat 
mind  is  the  cause  of  all  phenomena,  then  the  form  of  medication 
used  is  of  little  account  in  accomplishing  results.  I  am  a  seeker 
for  truth,  and  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  lay  aside  all  medicines  and 
use  a  more  excellent  way. 

I  and  family  are  enjoying  good  health,  and  trust  you  are. 

With  best  wishes,  believe  me  sincerely  yours  for  truth. 

H.   J.    NOTLUF. 

"Now  what  do  you  say   to   that?"  exultingly   ex- 


276  DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK. 

claimed  Mrs.  Fotheringill.  "Do  you  not  see  that  we 
are  all  misled  by  appearances,  so  long  as  we  believe 
there  is  any  real  efficacy  in  anything  save  spirit?" 

"My  dear  friend,"  retorted  Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  "in 
my  judgment  you  are  both  right  and  wrong.  I,  as 
much  as  you,  acknowledge  that  all  potency  is  essen 
tially  divine,  and  that,  apart  from  a  recognition  of 
divine  immanence,  we  are  blind  materialists  indeed; 
however,  my  experience  teaches  me  that  nature's  myriad 
forms  are  all  expressions  of  a  subtle  psychic  force  which, 
though  unitary  in  essence,  is  manifold  in  operation  and 
expression,  and,  as  the  wise  men  of  old  discovered, 
there  are  simples  in  nature  which  are  most  truly 
ordained  by  God  to  serve  fit  ends  in  sustaining  the 
exterior  existence  of  his  children  while  yet  they 
sojourn  on  the  crust  of  this  planet,  prior  to  their  re 
moval  to  more  ethereal  and  exalted  stages  of  existence. 
But  I  am  not  answering  your  doctor's  statements. 
Let  me  at  least  attempt  to  do  so.  In  my  judgment,  Dr. 
Notluf  failed  to  administer  the  remedies  as  I  know 
they  should  be  administered,  and  it  is  possible,  though 
I  will  not  say  probable,  that  he  secured  some  of  the 
worthless  imitations  which  at  one  time  were  freely 
sold  to  gratify  the  malice  and  cupidity  of  unscrupulous 
speculators.  Granting,  however,  that  the  genuine 
remedies  were  in  his  hands,  I  can  only  cite  my  own 
experience  as  exactly  the  reverse  of  his;  for  since  I 
have  seriously  taken  up  the  work  of  introducing  this 
great  discovery  to  the  world  I  have  individually  super 
intended  nineteen  cases  of  cancer,  and  of  these  seven 
teen  have  completely  recovered;  the  remaining  two 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  277 

were  so  far  advanced  that  only  relief  could  be  given, 
but  their  sufferings  were  assuaged  and  great  comfort 
given  them.  I,  of  course,  may  be  said  to  possess  a 
magnetic  touch  and  to  be  a  firm  upholder  of  spiritual 
supremacy,  but  I  have  known  several  instances  where 
the  remedies  were  applied  according  to  the  directions, 
by  persons  whose  mental  attitude  was  even  painfully 
agnostic,  and  still  the  results  were  extremely  satisfac 
tory,  though  I  do  not  think  the  patients  recovered  quite 
so  rapidly  in  their  hands  as  in  mine.  There  is  an  in 
stitution  in  Chicago  where  a  specialty  is  made  of  treat 
ing  cases  by  the  use  of  these  remedies  alone.  The  insti 
tute  issues  a  monthly  paper,  called  the  Health  Monitor, 
and  I  am  assured  by  the  most  reliable  persons,  who 
have  thoroughly  investigated  the  claims  put  forward  in 
the  pages  of  that  periodical,  that  the  cases  reported 
cured  are  in  reality  as  the  declaration  states." 

"  Well,  I  only  hope  you  will  be  successful  with  our 
dear  friend  upstairs.  I  know  Lady  Porchester  has  been 
ailing  for  a  long  time,  and  though  I  love  her  dearly,  I 
must  say  that  a  little  indiscretion  on  her  own  part  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  her  malady ;  but,  dear 
good  soul,  it  wrings  my  heart  to  think  of  her  as  suffer 
ing  when  she  has  been  so  good  to  us  all,  and  so  gener 
ous  and  charitable  in  all  her  dealings  with  humanity." 

"Suffering!  she's  not  suffering  in  my  care.  Miss 
Poyntz  has  been  a  little  nervous  on  two  or  three  occa 
sions,  and  perhaps  spread  the  report  among  the  very 
few  callers  who  have  managed  to  enter  the  house 
without  my  sanction,  that  her  ladyship  is  in  pain,  but 
I  know  better,  and  as  she  is  now  very  much  stronger  I 


278  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

will  let  you  see  her  for  a  few  minutes  if  you  wish  to. 
Miss  Poyntz  is  with  her,  and  she  is  quite  happy  and 
able  to  take  such  food  as  that  faithful  companion  pre 
pares  for  her.  Those  two  women  adore  each  other; 
there  is  a  sacredness  about  their  attachment  which 
reminds  one  of  David  and  Jonathan,  or  of  Damon  and 
Pythias, —  they  are  everything  to  each  other;  they  are 
both  noble  natures,  though  I  wish  they  were  both  a 
little  stronger  in  the  assertion  of  moral  independence 
and  freedom  from  conventionalities." 

As  Mrs.  Fotheringill  and  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  entered 
Lady  Porchester's  room  together  they  were  both  de 
lighted  to  see  her  well  enough  to  enjoy  a  good  book, 
which  Miss  Poyntz  was  reading  in  a  quiet  but  interest 
ing  manner  to  while  away  the  hour  and  keep  her  lady 
ship  from  talking,  as  it  was  better  that  she  should  taste 
some  of  the  sweetness  of  a  rational  rest  cure  for  a  few 
days  longer,  and  then  she  would  be  stronger  and 
healthier,  Mrs.  Spottiswoode  declared,  than  she  had 
been  for  twenty  years  at  least.  The  remedies  admin 
istered  regularly,  and  at  first  incessantly,  had  secured 
one  of  their  greatest  triumphs,  and  thanks  to  kind  care 
and  effective  nursing,  a  woman  over  seventy  and  not 
of  robust  constitution,  was  completely  delivered  from 
the  ravages  of  cancer  in  the  stomach  and  all  its  attend 
ant  afflictions  in  less  than  three  weeks'  treatment. 

Mrs.  Fotheringill  rightly  attributed  much  to  the 
action  of  well-directed  thought,  and  Mrs.  Spottiswoode 
was  not  wrong  in  thanking  the  Mattei  remedies  for 
doing  their  part  to  purify  the  external  structure,  through 
which  the  spirit  had  to  work. 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  279 

"  Paderewski  and  his  piano  are  two,  but  when  one 
wishes  to  listen  to  the  ravishing  strains  of  music  the 
romantic  Pole  can  draw  from  a  well-tuned  instrument, 
he  knows  that  the  piano  must  be  of  the  best,  and  per 
fectly  in  tune.  Our  exterior  bodies  are  machinery; 
they  are  fashioned  and  kept  in  repair,  as  well  as  operated, 
by  the  power  of  invisible,  super-material  intelligence, 
but  they,  as  instruments,  have  necessities  which  true 
science  knows  how  to  meet.  When  we  all  grow  to  that 
high  state  of  perfection  that  we  obey  the  law  of  health 
in  its  entirety,  and  therefore  never  transgress  any 
divine  commandment,  the  time  for  sickness  and  reme 
dies  will  have  gone  by  forever;  but  till  then  we  may 
well  be  thankful  for  all  that  nature  yields  us  in  the 
way  of  specially  adapted  foods  for  times  of  special  need. 
God  reigns  in  and  through,  as  well  as  over,  all  things, 
and  though  to  him  alone  we  must  give  glory,  we  will 
not  despise  any  of  his  humblest  messengers."  So  spake 
Mrs.  Spottiswoode,  and  so  agreed  Mrs.  Fotheringill, 
as  the  two  ladies  parted  in  the  drawing-room. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

WHAT  OF  AERIAL   NAVIGATION? 

AMONG  the  problems  which  most  intensely  interested 
Professor  Monteith,  after  his  return  to  London,  that 
of  aerial  navigation  occupied  first  rank.  It  was  at  the 
retreat  of  Aldebaran,  one  cold  January  afternoon,  that 
he  received  the  following  remarkable  instruction  from 
the  lips  of  the  mystic  scientist,  who  was  then  in  the 
act  of  constructing  an  aerial  navigator  which  he  de 
clared  would,  in  the  course  of  from  three  to  five  years, 
be  quite  ready  for  presentation  to  the  world.  The 
method  of  constructing  this  wonderful  machine  was 
explained  in  the  following  demonstration,  which  took 
place  under  the  eyes  of  the  professor. 

A  small  instrument,  having  three  gyroscopes  as  a 
principal  part  of  its  construction,  was  the  object  exhib 
ited  to  the  professor  as  the  instrument  for  demonstrat 
ing  the  facts  of  aerial  navigation.  These  gyroscopes 
were  attached  to  a  heavy,  inert  mass  of  metal,  weigh 
ing  about  one  ton.  The  other  part  of  the  apparatus 
consisted  of  tubes,  enclosed  in  as  small  a  space  as  pos 
sible,  being  clustered  in  a  circle.  These  tubes,  the 
mystic  went  on  to  explain,  represented  certain  chords, 

280 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  281 

which  were  coincident  to  the  streams  of  force  acting 
upon  the  planet,  focalizing  and  defocalizing  upon  its 
neutral  centre.  The  action  upon  the  molecular  struct 
ure  of  the  mass  lifted  was  based  upon  the  fact  that  each 
molecule  in  the  mass  possessed  a  north  and  south  pole, 
— more  strictly  speaking,  a  positive  and  negative  pole, — 
situated  through  the  centre,  formed  by  the  three  atoms 
which  compose  it.  No  matter  which  way  the  mass  of 
metal  is  turned,  the  poles  of  the  molecule  point  unde- 
viatingly  to  the  polar  centre  of  the  earth,  acting  almost 
exactly  as  the  dip-needle  when  uninfluenced  by  extra 
neous  conditions,  electrical  and  otherwise.  The  rota 
tion  of  the  discs  of  the  gyroscopes  produces  an  action 
upon  the  molecules  of  the  mass  to  be  lifted,  reversing 
their  poles,  causing  repulsion  from  the  earth  in  the 
same  way  as  like  poles  of  a  magnet  repel  each  other. 
This  repulsion  can  be  diminished  and  increased  accord 
ing  as  the  mechanical  conditions  are  operated.  By 
operating  the  three  discs,  starting  them  at  full  speed, 
then  touching  two  of  them,  so  as  to  bring  them,  accord 
ing  to  the  tone  they  represented  by  their  rotation,  to  a 
certain  vibratory  ratio,  the  weight  then  slowly  swaying 
from  side  to  side  left  the  floor,  rose  several  feet  in  the 
air,  remaining  in  that  position,  and  as  the  discs  grad 
ually  decreased  their  speed  of  rotation  the  weight  sank 
to  the  floor,  settling  down  as  lightly  as  a  thistle-down. 
Where  one  molecule  can  be  lifted,  there  need  be  no 
limit  as  to  the  number  in  a  structure  that  may  be 
operated  upon  as  easily  as  one.  The  vessel  in  contem 
plation,  the  aerial  navigator,  will  be  over  two  hundred 
feet  long,  over  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  tapering  at  both 


282  DASHED   AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

ends  to  a  point,  made  of  polished  steel,  and  will  be 
capable  of  being  driven  under  the  power  of  depolar 
repulsion,  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  miles  an  hour. 
It  can  be  far  more  easily  controlled  than  any  instrument 
now  in  use  for  any  phase  of  transit.  Another  very  re 
markable  feature  connected  with  this  strange  revelation 
of  aerial  navigation,  is  that  the  vessel  is  not  buoyed  up 
or  floated  in  the  air  through  the  medium  of  the  air,  so 
that  if  there  were  no  atmosphere  it  would  float  just  as 
readily;  hence,  under  mechanical  conditions  most  cer 
tainly  capable  of  production,  involving  massive  strength 
of  resistance  to  interstellar  vacuity  this  can  be  made 
capable  of  navigating  even  the  remote  depth  of  space, 
positions  between  planets  where  polarity  changes  being 
controlled  by  other  adjuncts  of  concentration  for  that 
purpose. 

Safely  enclosed  within  this  structure,  a  man  possess 
ing  the  chemical  knowledge  these  new  laws  give,  with 
sufficient  supply  of  material  from  which  to  make  oxy 
gen,  by  the  enormously  increased  rate  of  speed  attained 
by  such  navigator  where  atmospheric  friction  is  avoided, 
the  time  occupied  in  travelling  from  one  planet  to  an 
other  would  be  amazingly  brief,  and  one  can  travel  to 
other  planets  in  this  system  of  worlds  as  easily  as  the 
same  ship  could  navigate  the  depths  of  the  ocean. 

The  great  obstacle  hitherto  preventing  the  solution 
of  this  problem  has  been  the  strength  of  structure 
needed  under  conditions  above  presented.  With  this 
knowledge  of  matter,  the  size  of  structure  is  unim 
portant  ;  the  heaviest  can  be  as  easily  controlled  as  the 
lightest. 


t)ASHEt)   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

The  results  following  the  advent  of  such  wonders  as 
are  here  represented  must  closely  approximate  the  long- 
foretold  millennium,  or  more  properly  golden  age :  the 
disarming  of  nations,  the  ennoblement  of  man,  the 
universality  of  the  realization  of  brotherhood,  and 
the  true  elevation  of  womankind;  since  man,  possessing 
all  that  may  be  obtained,  need  no  longer  fear  the  devel 
opment  of  woman  to  perfect  equality  with  himself.  In 
that  time  it  shall  be  the  search  for  the  divine  ideal 
which  must  engage  the  faculties  of  all  to  their  utmost 
extent.  This  other  great  law  of  universal  consciousness 
is  most  aptly  expressed  in  "  The  Finding  of  the  Gnosis," 
by  a  very  learned  brother  mystic,  where  the  soul's  an 
swer  to  the  query  of  the  Nameless,  asking  if  to  such 
heights  he  can  ever  attain,  is  expressed  in  the  follow 
ing  words :  — 

"  Ever  the  starlit  eyes 
Shall  gaze  on  the  unattained ; 
Ever  the  rainbow  ahead, 
Subtly  elusive,  is  shifting. 
Think'st  thou  arrival  is  never, 
Or  is't  hid  in  the  scan 
Of  the  newer  endeavor  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

THE  PROFESSOR   IN  HIS   STUDY. 

LADY  PORCHESTER  had  quite  recovered  her  health  — 
indeed,  she  had  done  far  more ;  for  when  she  appeared 
on  the  Monday  afternoon  following  her  first  outing  in 
the  Park,  after  her  three  weeks'  retirement,  every  one 
remarked  upon  her  wonderfully  improved  appearance, 
the  almost  transparent  whiteness  of  her  skin  (formerly 
very  sallow),  and  the  quiet  animation  which  pervaded 
all  her  movements.  Professor  Monteith  was  one  of  the 
first  to  offer  congratulations ;  but  he  was  so  very  busy, 
working  upon  an  air-ship  of  which  he  had  procured  a 
perfect  working  model  from  Aldebaran,  that  he  had 
become  almost  as  complete  a  recluse  of  science  as  that 
exceedingly  retiring  worker,  who  scarcely  ever  allowed 
himself  an  evening,  much  less  a  day,  in  which  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  social  amenities,  without  which  life 
would  be  such  a  complete  blank  to  the  devotees  of 
fashion,  and  not  to  them  only,  but  to  many  kindly 
natures  whose  gregarious  instincts  are  strong,  and  who 
have  little  interest  in  life  outside  their  fellowship  with 
others. 

Aerial  navigation  promises  to  be  interesting ;  there  is 
a  great  fascination  for  most  people  in  the  prospect  of 

284 


t)ASHEt>  AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  285 

flying  through  the  air ;  consequently,  as  soon  as  it  became 
noised  abroad  that  a  mutual  friend  was  actually  engaged 
in  perfecting  a  flying  machine,  many  were  the  importu 
nate  entreaties  made  to  Lady  Porchester  to  induce  the 
"dear  professor"  to  let  them  take  just  a  peep  at  his 
"  heavenly  "  invention.  The  subject  of  aerial  naviga 
tion  was  the  one  topic  at  Lady  Porchester's  reception  on 
Monday  afternoon,  Jan.  29,  1894.  Colonel  McVickers, 
of  the  67th  Highlanders,  a  man  of  much  learning  and 
keen  observation,  had  made  the  matter  something  of  a 
study  and  had  collected  many  interesting  facts  concern 
ing  it,  which  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon  he  gave  to 
his  fellow-guests.  In  answer  to  an  attempted  sneer 
from  a  youthful  popinjay,  who  had  far  more  carefully 
arranged  hair  on  his  head  than  cultivated  brains  within, 
he  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  Professor  Alexander 
Graham  Bell,  the  distinguished  inventor  of  the  tele 
phone,  has  been  grappling  with  aerial  locomotion  for 
some  months  past  in  Nova  Scotia,  and,  like  all  other 
experimenters  in  that  science,  he  is  very  hopeful  of  suc 
cess.  He  is  not  a  believer  in  extreme  lightness,  but 
thinks  that  the  solution  of  the  problem  lies  in  proper 
balancing.  He  has  made  machines  that  will  fly  to  a 
height  of  several  hundred  feet,  but  the  motive  power  is 
acquired  externally,  and  motion  cannot,  therefore,  be 
long  continued.  Moreover,  there  is  no  method  of  direct 
ing  the  apparatus  while  in  the  air. 

Also  that  Professor  S.  P.  Langley,  director  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  in  Washington,  has  much  the 
same  ideas  as  Professor  Bell,  and  has  followed  very 
similar  lines.  In  fact,  these  two  investigators  have 


286  fcASflEb   AGAINST   THE  ROCtf. 

worked  together  to  some  extent.  Various  means  of 
propulsion  have  been  tried,  and  among  them  slow- 
burning  gunpowder,  which  has  been  used  successfully 
in  propelling  torpedo  boats. 

And  he  added,  "  Here  in  London  Hiram  Maxim  is  still 
busy  with  his  great  air-ship.  The  principle  he  has 
adopted  is  that  of  the  kite,  sufficient  surface  being  pro 
vided  to  enable  the  ship  to  float  in  the  air  when  a  mini 
mum  speed  of  twenty-five  miles  per  hour  has  been 
attained.  The  propelling  force  consists  of  two  screws, 
operated  in  the  usual  fashion  by  a  boiler  and  steam- 
engine." 

After  stating  these  well-known  facts,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  ethical  advantages  of  this  great  ques 
tion,  and  pursued  his  conversation  thus :  — 

"What  important  purpose  can  flight  in  air  serve? 
Maxim,  Langley,  and  all  who  have  studied  the  subject 
thoroughly,  agree  that  the  speed  of  aeriation  will  greatly 
exceed  that  of  any  terrestrial  locomotion. 

"  From  this  must  follow  an  entire  economic  change  in 
the  direction  of  rendering  immense  tracts  of  compara 
tively  worthless  territory,  at  distances  of  twenty  to  forty 
miles  from  cities,  much  more  available. 

"  There  would  also  result  the  relegating  of  city  prop 
erty  in  large  measure  to  business  and  storage  purposes. 

"  This  would  to  a  large  extent  accomplish  what  Henry 
George  sighs  for,  and  by  means  which  do  not  involve 
any  wrong  to  the  land-owner  by  the  wage-earner. 

"  With  flying  navies,  capable  of  carrying  unseen  at 
night  large  quantities  of  explosives  to  the  centre  of  a 
city,  war  would  become  so  destructive  that  it  would  be 


DASHED   AGAINST  f  HE  ROCK.  287 

soon  supplanted  by  arbitration,  as  a  matter  of  common 
sense  and  self-preservation. 

"  Arbitration  once  established,  an  international  police 
system,  controlling  nations  as  we  do  individuals,  and 
enforcing  the  decrees  of  boards  of  arbitration,  would 
be  enormously  assisted  by  this  power  of  rapid  and,  if 
necessary,  destructive  patrolling. 

"Immense  areas  of  country,  now  well-nigh  impene 
trable,  would  be  opened  to  usefulness.  Large  sources 
of  wealth  would  thus  be  added  to  the  civilized  world, 
and  would  result  in  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of 
the  savages  of  such  regions  as  central  Africa. 

"  We  should  have  to  give  up  selfish  legislation  and 
restriction  upon  the  commerce  of  other  nations,  and  be 
obliged  perforce  to  stand  on  a  broader  heritage  than  that 
of  a  nation  or  of  zone." 

Two  or  three  clergymen  who  were  present,  and  not 
ably  Mrs.  Northafriker,  an  earnest  missionary  to  foreign 
lands,  expressed  an  intense  desire  to  witness  the  progress 
already  made  by  Professor  Monteith;  but  as  the  work 
was  not  sufficiently  completed  to  admit  of  close  inspec 
tion,  without  disturbing  the  professor  too  greatly  in  the 
midst  of  his  laborious,  but  beloved,  undertaking,  he 
declared  himself  obliged  to  content  himself,  and  trusted 
they  would  be  contented,  with  seeing  the  model  which 
was  the  pattern  he  was  faithfully  determining  to  copy 
on  a  much  larger  scale.  Though  his  own  work  was  as 
yet  immature,  he  assured  them  that  others  had  made 
great  progress,  though  he  was  only  in  the  infancy  of 
his  herculean  task.1 

1  The  model  is  accurately  described,  as  far  as  it  can  be  at  present, 
in  a  previous  chapter  of  this  book.  See  page  280. 


288  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

"The  propeller  of  this  wonderful  aerial  navigator," 
said  the  professor,  "is  now  actually  in  existence  in 
Philadelphia ;  for  I  have  seen  it  there  and  I  have,  there 
fore,  the  authority  of  an  eye-witness  for  this  statement, 
as  well  as  the  word  of  many  distinguished  scientific 
investigators,  whose  judgment  and  veracity  are  entirely 
beyond  dispute.  It  is  a  stupendous  fact,  of  colossal 
magnitude,  that  the  above  navigator  has  associated  with 
it  all  the  conditions  requisite  for  interstellar  communi 
cation,  it  being  positively  proven  that  this  wonderful 
vessel  can  navigate  the  air  under  all  varying  atmos 
pheric  conditions,  from  the  calmest  to  the  most  per 
turbed,  and  is  capable  of  travelling  with  amazing 
velocity,  as  well  as  at  the  lowest  possible  rate  of 
motion,  and  that  with  perfect  safety  to  the  vessel  and 
its  inmates,  making  due  allowance  for  atmospheric 
friction." 

The  professor's  study  was  a  simple  attic  in  a  house 
in  Bloomsbury;  his  workshop  was  an  adjoining  attic, 
and  there,  with  no  companion  and  no  attendant  save  his 
faithful  old  housekeeper,  he  was  spending  his  days  and 
nights  tirelessly  at  work,  on  what  is  doubtless  the 
greatest  mechanical  labor  of  the  nineteenth,  and  will 
prove  the  greatest  victory  of  the  twentieth  century. 
Sometimes  he  had  a  fit  of  depression,  and  something  of 
the  old  cynical  gloom  returned  to  him,  but  these  lapses 
were  rare,  and  whenever  he  felt  particularly  depressed, 
some  sweet,  assuring  message  from  the  unseen  would 
come  to  cheer  his  solitude,  revive  his  drooping  courage, 
quiet  his  nerves,  and  what  was  more,  with  words  of 
wise,  practical  counsel  whispered  into  the  inmost  ear  of 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE  ROCK.  289 

his  soul,  tell  him  again,  and  yet  again,  of  the  certainty 
of  his  triumph  and  the  fadeless  crown  of  immortality. 

On  one  particularly  dreary  day,  when  all  the  elements 
seemed  at  war  with  each  other  and  fighting  desperately 
against  man,  Aldebaran  felt  impelled  to  come  from  his 
eyrie  in  Tower  Heights,  Islington,  to  the  professor's 
humble  dwelling  in  Bloomsbury,  a  distance  of  several 
miles.  When  he  entered  the  workshop  and  saw  that 
his  friend  was  literally  unable  to  greet  him  (so  over 
come  was  he  with  what  seemed  to  him  a  new  and  for 
midable  obstacle,  though  in  realit}^  the  phantom  was 
conjured  up  from  his  temporarily  distracted  brain),  Alde 
baran,  in  his  peculiarly  sweet,  penetrating,  earnest 
voice,  spoke  as  one  inspired,  saying :  — 

"  You  long,  my  brother,  to  reach  that  goal  which  you 
think  will  give  you  peace;  to  attain  to  those  heights 
of  wisdom  that  shall  place  you  beyond  the  dark  valleys 
of  pain;  to  enter  the  holy  temple  where  the  All  is 
worshipped,  and  you  a  glad  devotee ;  to  still  the  strife 
within  you,  to  be  as  one  emancipate.  You  cry  aloud  in 
your  despair,  Oh!  give  me  light  who  am  so  blind; 
naught  but  your  voice  you  hear  till  the  storms  have 
washed  the  tangled  cobwebs  from  your  eyes;  then  yen 
see,  not  the  far-off  stars,  but  the  earth,  which  offer.? 
itself  humbly  at  your  feet.  Let  it  be  your  teacher,  let 
it  show  you  the  lesson  of  Pain.  Poor,  sad-eyed  pain ! 
had  you  not  known  her  sister  Pleasure  and  loved  her 
best,  you  could  not  have  known  Pain.  Why  love  her 
best,  since  Pain  makes  your  love  ?  Get  you  away  from 
such  folly;  these  are  the  things  of  life,  as  needful  as 
the  air  you  breathe,  not  to  be  dispensed  with  in  any 


290  DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK. 

case.  Your  peace !  Why  think  of  it  ?  Could  you  desire 
it  without  the  strife?  What  could  you  rest  from? 
Let  strife  alone ;  much  do  we  need  the  hateful  thing  (is 
not  that  strange  ?)  to  show  us  what  peace  is,  and  hate, 
that  we  may  know  love.  You  long  for  growth,  devel 
opment,  for  wisdom,  and  freedom;  have  I  said  aright? 
You  have  naught  to  do  with  the  ordered  eternal  laws  of 
immortal  living;  your  wishes  and  desires  are  as  they 
have  been,  only  to  enjoy  the  play  of  the  senses  as  they 
throb  under  the  unceasing  force  of  exhaustless  action, 
never  capable  of  being  brought  to  rest;  your  desire  a 
little  higher  in  the  scale,  but  desire  still.  Small  need 
have  you  to  think  of  these  except  to  know  them  as  they 
are,  as  inseparable  from  life  and  consciousness  as  death 
from  life.  You  have  your  freedom  here  and  now,  for 
you  cannot  ever  have  more  than  here  and  now.  Your 
heaven  here,  you  enter  Nirvana  here,  and  when  you 
will;  do  not  look  to  that  time  to  come,  your  time  has 
come.  You  insatiate,  do  not  be  deluded;  if  you  cannot 
live  in  the  present  now,  you  cannot  in  the  future  then, 
nor  can  you  labor  if  not  now,  nor  be  content  or  happy. 
What,  pray,  will  tell  you  when  you  have  reached  that 
time  looked  for?  shall  a  guide-board  be  there  placed  by 
whom?  The  Incomprehensible  One  speaks  to  you  day 
by  day,  giving  you  work  to  do,  which  you  never  seem 
to  think  you  do  right.  You  are  grieved,  you  despair, 
and  that,  too,  in  that  future  then,  which  is  that  far-off 
time  become  the  now  and  here.  Your  heavenly  days 
you  fill  with  foolish  joys  that  make  you  say,  Oh!  give 
me  peace,  and  longingly  you  dream  that  time  will  come 
some  day.  Ay,  and  will  come  surely  if  you  can  say, 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE   EOCK.  291 

Ah !  it  is  here  now,  and  let  the  things  which  belong  to 
life  alone.  You  ask  then,  what  have  I  to  be  happy  for 
if  no  rest  from  strife  will  come,  no  love  supreme,  no 
heaven  of  unending  joy.  Will  you  tell  me  what  you 
are  who  ask,  or  even  tell  yourself?  Yet  you  say,  /am 
sad,  Jam  glad,  /am  angry,  or  /am  compassionate;  how 
could  you  say  /  am  anything,  if  you  separate  that  / 
from  all  these  phases  of  passing  consciousness  which 
makes  up  that  /'s  existence?  That  /is  the  main  point 
and  the  conscious  point  which  all  else  sustains,  and 
sustains  it  for  an  eternal  life  of  consciousness,  not  for 
negation  and  nothingness,  which  would  result  if  some 
desires  were  gratified.  It  satisfies  me  wholly  to  say  / 
am  ;  it  is  my  peace.  I  hear  you  say  I  am,  and  I  have 
my  joy,  and  when  I  look  at  you,  and  the  covers  are 
removed  from  that  lam  of  yours,  I  veil  my  eyes,  blinded 
by  its  awful  majesty." 

As  the  mystic  orator  ceased  speaking,  Professor  Mon- 
teith  raised  his  eyes  (which  he  had  kept  almost  closed 
and  downcast  during  the  strange  and  touching  address), 
beaming  with  a  light  of  perfect  comprehension.  As  his 
full  orbs  met  the  steady  gaze  of  the  lustrous  eyes  of  his 
teacher,  he  said  fearlessly  and  unfalteringly :  — 

"  Yes,  I  know  you  are  right ;  not  one  struggle  do  we 
have  to  undergo  for  naught.  Tennyson  hoped  and  tried 
to  believe,  what  all  some  day  will  KNOW,  and  that  per 
fectly  ;  I  may  well  say  I  have  been  long  blind,  but  now 
I  am  beginning  to  see  clearly ;  trees  and  men  walking 
are  no  longer  confounded  to  my  vision  as  they  were 
before.  Thanks  to  you,  my  noble  friend,  and  thanks  to 
all  who  have  pointed  me  to  something  beyond  this  tran- 


292  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK.. 

sitory  sphere,  I  can  say  confidently  at  last,  'Nothing 
walks  with  aimless  feet. '  I  am  even  coming  to  trust 
'that  not  a  worm  is  cloven  in  vain,'  and  I  am  already 
satisfied  'that  somehow  good  will  be  the  final  goal  of 
ill. '  There  is  no  ill  when  the  scales  are  off  our  eyes ; 
we  call  that  evil  which  we  think  is  not  right,  because 
we  fail  to  understand  its  origin,  its  ministry,  and  its 
outcome."  *  *  *  A  sweet,  silvery  voice,  like  the  sound 
of  a  far-off  belfry  chime,  drawing  nearer  and  ever 
nearer,  swept  through  the  barely  furnished  room,  and  a 
vibration  of  sound,  audible,  perhaps,  only  to  the  intensi 
fied  perceptions  of  those  whose  hearing  had  become 
attuned  to  the  melodies  of  registers  beyond  the  limits  of 
those  ordinarily  compassed  by  mortal  hearing,  chanted, 
"Blessed  shall  he  be  who  taketh  thy  little  ones  and 
dasheth  them  against  the  rock."  *  *  *  A  pause,  silence 
for  a  breathing-space,  and  then  the  same  sweet  voice 
rang  out  louder  and  clearer  this  time,  "  Upon  this  rock 
I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  the  underworld 
shall  not  prevail  against  it."  *  *  *  Another  brief 
silence,  and  then  a  still  firmer  tone-vibration,  echoing 
in  a  harmony  of  enchanting  fulness,  "  The  stone  which 
the  builders  rejected  is  become  the  headstone  of  the 
corner.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous 
in  our  eyes.  Grace,  grace,  grace  unto  it." 

The  voice  ceased;  all  was  still,  but  from  that  hour 
the  professor  knew  the  meaning  of  holy  Scripture,  and 
read  the  purpose  of  the  Infinite  in  the  checkered  career 
of  man. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

IDEAL  MARRIAGE  AND   ITS   RESULTS. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  marriage  ceremony  had  just  been  per 
formed  at  Gore  Towers,  Hants.  Arthur  Selwyn  East- 
lake-Gore  and  Visalia  Discalcelis  had  become  man  and 
wife.  The  ceremony  was  strictly  private ;  only  a  few 
very  choice  friends  knew  of  it,  and  they  were  surprised 
at  the  apparent  suddenness  of  the  event.  Mrs.  Eastlake- 
Gore  was  delighted  to  welcome  so  fair  and  loving  a 
daughter  as  the  talented  Visalia  to  her  heart  and  home. 
The  newly  married  couple,  with  their  mother  (no  hide 
ous  "  in  law  "  was  ever  tolerated  even  in  thought)  were 
going  straight  to  Sicily,  to  spend  the  honeymoon  and 
bring  home  the  charming  sister  with  them  two  months 
later,  who  had  been  spending  fully  six  months  in  that 
romantic  island,  with  a  company  of  true  gnostics  who 
had  formed  a  little  settlement  there,  in  a  delightful 
retreat  "far  from  the  madding  crowd,"  where  they 
might  give  themselves  to  study  and  spiritual  develop 
ment  ere  they  returned  to  actual  life  in  the  outer  world, 
where  they  expected  to  use  all  the  knowledge  they  had 
acquired  in  their  quiet,  natural  sanctuary  for  the  great 
est  good  of  a  perplexed  and  sorrowing  humanity.  The 

293 


294  DASHED    AGAINST    THE   BOCK. 

voyage  to  Italy,  even  though  it  was  midwinter,  was 
delightful,  and  when,  after  the  rigors  of  an  exception 
ally  cold  English  winter,  they  landed  in  the  lovely 
island  off  the  southern  coast  of  Italy,  they  felt  their 
hearts  dilate  with  thankfulness  to  the  bountiful  Giver  of 
all  good  for  making  this  poor  vestibule  of  heaven  so  fair 
and  bright. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  Junior,  as  they  were 
formally  addressed,  intended  to  devote  themselves  to 
joint  literary  and  musical  activities.  Arthur  intended 
to  unite  journalism  with  art,  and  Visalia  was  deter 
mined  to  incorporate  in  her  amazingly  well-written 
novels  all  the  highest  dreams  of  human  progress  she 
could  receive  in  her  most  exalted  moments,  and  accom 
pany  her  literary  life  with  the  sweetest  song.  Their 
plan  was  to  bring  the  gospel  of  beauty  home  to  the  very 
heart  of  the  tried,  sad  workers  of  the  world,  who  suffer 
literally  because  they  have  so  little  faith  and  hope,  and 
whose  career  can  be  so  immeasurably  ennobled  by  intro 
ducing  into  it  the  sunshine  of  heavenly  peace.  "  Wor 
ship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,"  was  the  life 
motto  of  this  gifted  and  devoted  couple,  but  how  they 
carried  out  their  aims  and  gratified  their  high  ambitions 
will  be  the  subject  of  the  sequel  to  this  tale. 

Since  Madame  Discalcelis  had  become  Mrs.  Eastlake- 
Gore,  Junior,  she  had  been  the  recipient  of  a  large  pile 
of  congratulatory  and  expostulatory  letters  from  friends 
and  literary  acquaintances  from  far  and  near ;  for  though 
her  private  residence  was  not  open  to  unsolicited  inva 
sions  at  any  time,  she  received  and  read  every  fragment 
of  correspondence  addressed  to  her  in  care  of  her  pub- 


DASHED    AGAINST    THE   ROCK.  295 

lishers,  Signori  Leoponti  and  Vulperini.  A  woman 
holding  remarkable  views  on  many  subjects,  and  never 
fearing  to  express  them  in  public  print,  must  naturally 
in  these  days,  when  discussion  of  the  topic  is  so  rife, 
be  prepared  to  become  the  recipient  of  numberless 
astonishing  inquiries  regarding  the  law  of  heredity, 
which  is  agitating  the  minds  of  the  public  in  many 
circles,  more  even  than  the  labor  problem,  or  any  other 
important  question  vitally  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
present,  and  of  coming  generations.  A  newly  married 
woman,  whose  ideals  of  marriage  are  exceptionally  high, 
can  reasonably  be  looked  upon  as  a  source  whence  ideas 
worth  considering  relative  to  family  life  may  be  expected 
to  emanate,  even  though  as  yet  the  privileges  attendant 
upon  maternity  have  not  fallen  to  the  lot  of  that  woman ; 
for  the  wise  woman  is  she  who  knows  before  marriage 
what  course  she  intends  to  pursue  after  it,  and  is  there 
fore  spared  the  misery  of  discovering,  when  too  late, 
that  she  has  made  a  fatal  misstep,  involving  herself  and 
others  in  frightful  wretchedness. 

Ursula  Gestefeld's  Woman  who  Dares,  Sarah  Grand's 
Heavenly  Twins,  and  other  popular  novels  with  a 
decided  purpose,  dealing  frankly  with  delicate,  and  too 
often  hidden  subjects,  have  done,  and  are  still  doing, 
much  to  arouse  public  sentiment  on  one  of  the  most 
important  subjects  with  which  human  intelligence  can 
possibly  become  engaged;  but  these  books  and  many 
others,  good  though  they  are,  deal  more  extensively  with 
the  sorrows  consequent  upon  ill-assorted  unions  and 
false  standards  of  ethics,  than  with  the  sovereign  panacea 
for  all  these  woes,  which  is  nothing  less  than  perfect 
frankness  before  marriage  as  well  as  after  it. 


296  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

Arthur  Selwyn  Eastlake-Gore  and  Visalia  Discalcelis 
were  two  very  unusual  people,  in  all  respects ;  for  they 
were  morally,  mentally,  and  physically  so  far  above  the 
average  development  of  men  and  women  to-day,  that 
their  extreme  healthfulness  on  all  planes  constituted 
them  a  phenomenal  couple.  Two  such  singularly  nat 
ural  and  harmoniously  cultured  persons  would  of  neces 
sity  find  it  far  easier  to  discuss  the  most  vital  questions 
fearlessly  and  intelligently,  than  those  who  would  bring 
to  the  discussion  a  far  slenderer  share  of  ability  to  cope 
with  its  far-reaching  consequences ;  still,  there  are  no 
people  capable  of  feeling  in  the  least  deeply,  who  have 
not  the  requisite  ability,  if  they  will  but  use  it,  to 
grapple  with  the  greatest  difficulties  which  can  possibly 
beset  the  question  of  the  right  relation  of  the  sexes  in 
marriage.  A  woman  as  thoroughly  independent  finan 
cially  as  Madame  Discalcelis  must  have  advantages,  in 
respect  of  unfettered  sense  of  personal  freedom,  which 
no  woman  dependent  on  marriage  for  support  can  pos 
sibly  feel;  but,  thanks  to  the  industrial  education  of 
women,  now  becoming  universal,  all  women  will  soon 
be  able  to  realize  and  practically  demonstrate  their  equal 
ability  with  their  brothers  to  earn  an  honest,  noble  liv 
ing  by  their  own  properly  remunerative  occupations, 
before  they  have  reached  what  may  reasonably  be  called 
the  marriageable  age,  which  in  common  reason  cannot 
fairly  be  placed  under  twenty-one,  and  had  better  be 
over  that  period. 

Mr.  Gore  and  his  bride  were  almost  exactly  of  an 
age,  and  that  age  was  twenty-five;  they  had  both 
achieved  remarkable  success  in  their  chosen  career, 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  KOCK.  297 

which  was  literature  of  the  highest  stamp,  though  one 
was  a  journalist  and  the  other  a  novelist.  This  dis 
tinctness  in  literary  action  was  better  than  identity  of 
line  of  occupation,  as  two  persons  who  are  to  har 
moniously  co-operate  in  any  undertaking  must  each 
have  his  or  her  decided  specialty.  The  old  adage, 
"Two  of  a  trade  seldom  agree,"  need  not  have  reference 
to  the  detestable  and  unreasoning  jealousy  which  so 
often  undermines  society,  and  renders  mutually  antago 
nistic  those  who,  if  rightly  instructed  in  the  science  of 
co-operative  industry,  would  be  mutually  helpful;  but 
where  jealousy  is,  as  it  should  ever  be,  entirely  absent, 
there  is  often  a  lack  of  mental  satisfaction  on  both  sides, 
when  two  individuals  are  constantly  thrown  together 
who  can  do  little  more  than  merely  echo  each  other's 
sentiments.  That  kind  of  sympathy  in  thought  which 
causes  one  to  say  to  the  other  when  a  remark  is  made, 
"That  is  exactly  what  I  was  going  to  say  myself," 
becomes  irksome,  if  it  is  too  continuous,  for  the  real  joy 
of  companionship  and  the  true  profit  to  be  derived  by 
it,  is  that  one  hears  from  his  companion  exactly  what 
he  could  not  have  voiced  himself.  Complementary  or 
supplementary  associations  are  what  we  need  to  round 
out  our  lives,  and  keep  us  perpetually  fresh  in  thought 
and  young  in  feeling.  The  married  state,  therefore, 
when  ideal,  is  a  union  of  equals  and  a  blending  of  con 
trasts,  without  which  there  may  be  good  unison,  but  no 
perfect  harmony. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  Junior,  had  fully  ex 
pressed  themselves  to  each  other  on  all  vital  subjects, 
not  only  before  marriage,  but  previous  to  betrothal ;  for 


298  DASHED    AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

it  was  the  conviction  of  both  that  one's  word  should  be 
one's  bond,  but  no  word  should  ever  be  hastily  given ;  and 
in  no  case  is  a  pledge  given  less  thoughtfully  than  where 
two  young  persons,  superficially  attracted,  but  lacking 
anything  approaching  to  knowledge  of  each  other's  char 
acter  and  sentiments,  agree  to  take  each  other  for  better 
or  worse,  without  knowing  much,  if  anything,  more 
about  each  other  than  the  most  external  details  regard 
ing  physical  appearance,  social  position,  and  business 
prospects.  It  is  necessary  to  happiness  that  the  two  who 
are  to  become  one  in  the  eyes  of  the  civil  law,  should 
know  that  they  are  already  one  in  spirit,  before  they 
take  upon  themselves  to  declare  their  purpose  to  live  as 
one  before  the  world.  The  marriage  laws  do  not  need 
as  much  revision  as  the  prevailing  conduct  of  those 
contemplating  marriage,  before  they  have  recourse  to 
the  operation  of  the  marriage  laws.  No  law  can  ordain 
that  two  shall  be  one  in  spirit,  except  the  law  of  God, 
which  has  made  those  one  who  rightfully  belong  to 
gether,  and  though  the  highest  ideal  of  spiritual  mar 
riage  set  forth  in  earlier  pages  of  this  volume  is  an 
exceptionally  high  standard,  and  probably  beyond  the 
present  realization  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
people  out  of  every  thousand,  at  the  lowest  calculation, 
still  there  is  an  approximation  toward  this  high  ideal 
which  is  by  no  means  unpractical. 

On  the  question  of  hereditary  influences,  our  hero 
and  heroine  were  perfectly  agreed;  they  accepted  the 
theory  that  every  soul  has  a  mission  to  fulfil  on  earth, 
and  that  the  divine  secret  of  maternity  is  far  beyond 
man's  present  intellectual  comprehension;  but  with  the 


DASHED  AGAINST   THE  BOCK.  299 

deep,  hidden  mystery  of  infinite  purpose  we  have  not  to 
deal ;  the  part  assigned  to  us  to  perform  is  a  very  com 
prehensible  one,  if  we  will  but  study  it.  To  secure  a 
healthy,  harmonious  surrounding  for  an  unborn  child, 
it  is  essential  that  the  father  and  mother  should  be  one 
in  all  their  highest  desires  and  life  purposes.  Maternity 
should  always  be  voluntary,  and  the  mother  should 
rejoice  in  her  glorious  prerogative.  With  regard  to 
the  special  moral  and  mental  influence  which  should 
afford  the  occult  matrix  for  the  unborn,  both  parents 
should  contribute  psychically  to  the  orderly  construc 
tion  of  this,  each  giving  a  special  impetus  to  a  desired 
attainment.  The  best  of  the  old  Greeks  understood 
this  necessity,  and  strove  to  live  up  to  it;  and  in  all 
cases  where  they  were  faithful  to  their  noblest  ideals, 
they  brought  forth  offspring  whose  moral,  mental,  and 
physical  development  was  so  phenomenally  high,  that 
they  are  to-day  among  the  best  models  of  human  expres 
sion  the  world's  literature  and  art  contains.  Madame 
Discalcelis  had  said  in  Askalon,  that  it  is  a  truth 
recognized  by  Rosicrucianism,  and  by  all  occult  orders 
entitled  to  prominence  on  the  score  of  dignity,  that  any 
soul  contains  what  any  other  soul  holds  infolded;  the 
difference  between  souls  in  expression  arises  from  the 
sole  fact  that  one  manifests  what  another  conceals,  or 
that  one  excessively  exhibits  the  opposite  qualities  to 
those  which  are  especially  apparent  in  another;  by 
reason  of  this,  a  system  of  ante-natal,  as  well  as  post 
natal,  training,  will  suffice  to  call  into  prominent  activ 
ity,  qualities  which  would  without  this  appeal  to  them 
remain  dormant,  though  they  are  never  non-existent. 


300  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

Arthur  Gore,  before  his  acquaintance  with  the  author 
ess,  had  been  forcibly  struck  with  the  reasonableness  of 
this  theory,  and  had  commented  most  favorably  upon  it 
in  his  extended  review  of  the  book.  Now  that  he  was 
the  husband  of  the  lady  whose  writings  he  had  so 
greatly  admired  before  he  met  her,  he  resolved  to  work 
with  her  in  perfect  sympathy,  whenever  the  time  came 
to  make  in  their  own  family  life  a  practical  test  of  this 
encouraging  and  sensible  theory.  It  was  the  dearest 
wish  of  this  exemplary  couple  that,  should  a  son  or 
daughter  be  born  to  them  (they  cared  not  which,  believ 
ing  so  entirely  as  they  did  in  the  absolute  equality  of 
male  and  female),  he  or  she  should  be  a  great  musician, 
— a  really  great  master  of  harmony,  like  unto  Handel 
or  Mozart, — and  it  was,  moreover,  their  deepest  prayer 
that  should  they,  under  Heaven's  guidance,  be  the 
instruments  for  ushering  into  objective  terrestrial  exist 
ence,  a  soul  capable  of  flooding  the  world  with  death 
less  song,  that  this  gifted  son  or  daughter  of  the  great 
musical  circle  in  the  skies,  should  devote  his  rare  talents 
of  composition  and  rendition  to  the  furtherance  of  all 
that  is  really  highest  and  worthiest  to  endure  in  human 
expression.  Music,  to  those  who  can  interpret  its 
divine  inner  meanings,  is  no  mere  art  wherewith  to 
tickle  transient  fancy,  or  please  for  the  hour  natures 
whose  emotions  are  but  shallow  and  vain.  Music  is 
the  vibrant  effluence  of  the  great  solar  centre  of  every 
planetary  system,  and  they  who  are  learning  to  trace 
out  the  truth,  long  buried  in  the  mystic  verbiage  of  the 
astrologers  and  alchemists,  concerning  the  music  of  the 
spheres,  are  commencing  to  see  that  through  vibration, 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE  BOCK.  301 

and  through  vibration  only,  can  diseases  be  permanently 
driven  out  of  the  social  and  individual  communities, 
now  so  grievously  afflicted  with  such  morbid  distempers 
as  result  from  perverse  devotion  to  sense,  to  the  almost 
total  neglect  of  spirit.  The  youthful  David,  playing 
dexterously  on  his  harp,  can  charm  away  the  aberration 
of  Saul,  when  all  other  means  have  been  tried  and 
proven  useless.  The  true  musician  of  to-morrow  will 
be  he  or  she  who  has  so  interpreted  and  translated  the 
divine  meanings  of  song,  that  Christ  will  indeed  be 
found  in  music  vastly  grander  even  than  Wagner's 
"  Parsifal,"  though  that,  as  Albert  Ross  Parsons  has  truly 
said,  is  at  least  a  key  to  something  of  the  treasure  con 
cealed  within  the  sacred  adytum  where  the  goddess  of 
melody  sits  among  the  immortals. 

To  rear  an  infant  yet  unborn,  in  the  paths  of  har 
mony,  needs  that  the  mother  be  herself,  before  that 
child's  conception,  attuned  to  the  rhythmic  vibrations 
of  the  central  sphere ;  and  as  in  that  divine  abode  there 
can  be  no  jars  of  feeling,  no  discordances  in  thought, 
how  is  it  possible  for  a  holy  temple  to  be  prepared  and 
consecrated  to  divinest  uses  of  maternity,  when  the 
woman  who  is  priestess  at  the  shrine,  defiles  her  inner 
chambers  of  affection  with  harsh  thoughts  or  sordid 
misbeliefs.  The  purer  a  woman  is,  and  the  more  active 
in  worthy  mental  undertakings,  the  less  likely  is  she  to 
be  even  tempted  to  harbor  a  single  suspicion  of  wrong 
concerning  any  one,  and  as  she,  being  healthy  herself, 
detests  disease,  its  causes  and  concomitants,  she  cannot 
be  expected  to  deal  gently  with  those  who  treat  her  as 
though  she  were  a  vulture  or  buzzard  in  human  shape, 


302  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

and  proceed  forthwith  to  regale  her  with  carrion.  A 
woman's  safety  is  not  in  knowledge  of  sin,  but  in  the 
strength  of  virtue,  and  what  is  true  of  woman  is  true  of 
man  also.  Knowledge  of  disease  will  never  prevent 
contagion,  but  sound,  vigorous  organisms  afford  no 
chance  for  microbe  culture. 

The  calm  retreat  which  the  newly  married  pair  who 
are  now  our  hero  and  heroine  had  chosen,  was  selected 
chiefly  because  of  its  almost  entire  remoteness  from  any 
place  where  tourists  stray,  and  where  the  air  is  filled 
with  the  psychic  emanations  from  gossiping,  discordant, 
mismated  misanthropes. 

"  For  the  first  few  weeks  of  our  married  life  let  us  be 
where  we  can  breathe  heaven's  unpolluted  air,  and  for 
get  that  'Mrs.  Grundy '  and  ''they  say  '  ever  had  exist 
ence.  Let  us  learn  through  nature  how  to  blend  our 
lives,  so  that  when  we  return  to  London,  and  take  up 
the  thread  of  our  accustomed  occupations  and  meet  the 
world,  as  meet  it  we  must,  we  shall  be  above  it,  even 
though  in  it." 

Such  were  the  words  of  his  treasured  bride,  in  answer 
to  Arthur's  first  question  as  to  where  they  should  spend 
their  honeymoon,  and  how. 

"Give  me,"  she  continued,  "the  songs  of  nightin 
gales,  not  the  cackle  of  geese ;  the  odor  of  sweet  outdoor 
plants  and  fragrant  garden  flowers,  not  the  stale  musti- 
ness  of  patchouli  and  musk;  the  freedom  of  the  brown 
earth  and  the  verdant  fields,  not  the  dust  from  Daghes- 
tan  rugs  and  Axminster  carpets.  Nature  unperverted, 
true,  pure,  and  versatile,  is  the  source  whence,  on  the 
outer  side  of  life,  I  wish  to  draw  my  first  inspiration  in 
preparation  for  maternity." 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   HOCK.  303 

The  thought  of  shirking  motherhood,  or  contemplat 
ing  it  as  distasteful,  would  have  been  as  impossible  to 
the  pure-minded  Visalia,  as  for  the  unfallen  angels  in 
the  heavenly  hierarchies  to  seek  to  avoid  fulfilling  the 
high  and  glorious  privileges  of  ministry  vouchsafed  to 
them  by  their  Creator.  It  is  one  of  the  surest  signs  of 
deep-seated  degradation  in  the  present  day,  that  cult 
ured  women  think  with  fear,  if  with  no  worse  emotion, 
of  approaching  maternity,  for  such  a  feeling  must  pro 
ceed  from  moral  or  physical  disorder,  and  is  frequently 
the  result  of  both.  The  "curse  of  Eve"  theory,  which 
has  been  studiously  fostered  by  mistaken  and  deluded 
theologians,  has  robbed  the  prospect  of  motherhood  of 
most  of  its  joy  for  such  women  as  are  yet  held  in  the 
chain  of  bondage  to  the  superstitions  attaching  to  reli 
gion;  and  outside  all  ecclesiastical  precincts,  utterly 
false  medical  ideas  make  life  a  burden  to  women  who, 
through  disgraceful  ignorance  of  psychology  and  physi 
ology  alike,  combined  with  slavish  devotion  to  perni 
cious  fashions,  fail  utterly  to  study  and  apply  the 
principles  of  a  sound  gynecology  or  tokology,  which  is 
now  happily  dawning  upon  the  world  for  the  most  part 
through  the  agency  of  those  very  "irregular"  health 
doctors,  whom  "regular  "  bunglers  would  consign  to  the 
inferno  of  imprisonment,  for  daring  to  teach  truth  in 
place  of  administering  poison.  There  are  in  all  profes 
sions  many  excellent,  conscientious  people,  but,  alas! 
there  are  charlatans  everywhere,  and  nowhere  is  charla 
tanism  practised  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  connection 
with  the  most  sacred  functions  and  responsibilities  of 
life.  Shakers  and  others  who  have  made  the  fatal  mis- 


304  DASHED  AGAINST  THE  ROCK. 

take  of  counselling  the  best  and  purest  men  and  women 
to  forego  parentage,  cannot  of  course  be  expected  to  do 
anything  whatever  to  improve  the  race  through  heredi 
tary  transmission,  because  they  leave  the  work  of  race 
propagation  entirely  in  the  hands  of  those  whom  they 
declare  to  be  worldly,  unsaintly,  and  unspiritual.  Truly 
intelligent  reformers  hold  that  whenever  we  find  an 
exceptionally  noble  man  or  woman,  there  do  we  find  a 
model  father  or  mother ;  therefore,  if  any  steps  are  to  be 
taken  to  check  parentage,  the  check  must  be  applied, 
not  to  the  healthy  and  aspiring,  but  to  the  diseased  and 
the  debased.  It  is  impossible  for  any,  save  the  few  who 
are  intensely  sensitive  to  psychic  influences,  and  that 
knowingly  and  normally,  to  understand  anything  like 
how  large  an  extent  of  mental  sympathy  between  wife  and 
husband  is  essential  to  the  harmonic  raising  of  a  family 
or  a  single  child. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  Junior,  were  one  day 
talking,  in  presence  of  their  beloved  mother,  with  a 
young  married  lady  whom  they  met  in  their  retreat, 
concerning  the  phenomenal  precocity  and  extraordinary 
healthfulness  of  her  little  boy,  a  child  of  two,  who  was 
in  many  respects  as  mature  mentally  as  most  children 
are  at  seven ;  and  what  astonished  every  one  who  saw 
him  was  that  he  was  so  perfectly  good-natured,  and  so 
entirely  free  from  the  symptoms  of  transmitted  and 
reflected  hysteria,  under  which  almost  every  child  one 
meets  is  groaning  in  greater  or  less  degree. 

Signora  Electra  Monterini  was  the  wife  of  a  young 
Italian  artist  whom  she  had  met  in  Florence  and  fell  in 
love  with,  as  he  did  with  her,  literally  at  first  sight. 


DASHED   AGAINST  THE   ROCK.  305 

They  were  married  three  weeks  after  their  first  meeting, 
but  on  the  day  of  their  first  meeting  they  engaged  them 
selves  to  each  other,  in  the  clear  light  of  a  full  assur 
ance  that  they  were  truly  each  other's  already,  and  had 
ever  been  so,  —  though  they  had  not  discovered  it  out 
wardly  till  then,  —  in  heart  and  soul.  Signer  Pietro 
Monterini  was  at  this  time  —  when  his  wife  met  the 
Gores  —  in  Vienna,  executing  a  commission  for  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  and  though  he  would  gladly  have 
taken  his  wife  and  child  with  him  to  the  gay  capital, 
they  had  agreed  that  it  was  best  for  the  young  mother 
and  their  little  one  to  remain  far  away  from  the  bustle 
and  mixed  atmosphere  of  a  feverish  metropolis.  When 
there  is  such  union  as  existed  between  this  happy  pair, 
there  can  be  no  separations ;  for  thought,  on  swifter 
wings  than  light,  can  conquer  every  obstacle  of  distance, 
and  almost  instantly  convey  to  the  beloved  one  at  the 
other  end  of  the  globe,  if  need  be,  whatever  tidings  are 
considered  of  sufficient  value  to  transmit. 

Electra  Monterini  and  Visalia  Discalcelis  Gore  were 
at  once  on  terms  of  perfect  intimacy;  the  two  women 
understood  each  other  immediately  the  one  felt  the 
atmosphere  of  the  other,  and  it  was  from  the  radiant 
Electra  that  Visalia  gathered  the  few  further  hints  she 
needed  on  the  question  of  a  practical  outworking  of  the 
truth  she  had  never  doubted,  viz.,  that  a  child  can  be 
psychically  educated  before  and  after  birth  through  the 
united  influence  of  the  parents'  thoughts.  Little  Ber- 
nadino  Monterini  had  never  been  taught  his  letters,  he 
had  never  been  taught  to  speak,  to  walk,  to  count,  or  to 
do  any  of  the  many  things  which  it  is  generally  supposed 


306  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

young  children  must  learn  in  a  formal  way,  or  they 
would  never  know  them ;  but  he  was  already  something 
of  a  little  Buddha,  for  he  knew  what  he  had  never 
learned.  He  could  talk  the  purest  Italian  and  a  little 
English  and  French,  he  knew  a  good  part  of  the  multi 
plication  table,  and  he  walked  with  a  grace  and  dignity 
of  bearing  so  remarkable  in  a  little  child  that  it  pro 
voked  mingled  merriment  and  admiration  among  all 
who  saw.  This  wonderful  little  fellow  had  not  been  ill 
a  minute  since  his  birth,  and  he  had  never  cried,  though 
he  often  laughed,  a  soft,  sweet,  silvery  peal  of  perfect 
laughter.  He  was  a  musician,  and  that  was  what  made 
him  doubly  dear  to  Visalia,  and  when  she  saw  him, 
utterly  without  training,  go  to  the  piano,  and  occasion 
ally  pick  up  a  violin  and  evoke  ravishing  though  simple 
harmonies,  and  then  run  away  and  play  with  flowers 
and  chase  butterflies, —  who,  by  the  way,  were  not  in  the 
least  afraid  of  him,  and  he  never  injured  one, — the 
thought  welled  up  in  her  own  bosom  that  she,  too, 
would  be  the  mother  of  such  a  messenger  of  the  mighty 
Israfil.  Music  such  as  this  child  played  was  in  no  sense 
technical,  and  it  could  be  traced  to  no  "school."  It 
was  voluntary  as  the  songs  of  larks  and  thrushes,  its 
perfect  spontaneity  gave  it  its  deepest  charm,  and  when 
he  sang,  he  simply  let  the  sound  escape  through  his  lips, 
and  it  was  free  as  a  wild-bird's  note  and  quite  as 
tuneful. 

"How  did  you  raise  him?"  questioned  Visalia.  To 
which,  with  beaming  countenance,  lit  with  more  than 
earthly  love,  Electra  answered :  — 

"  My  husband  and  I  are  one,  we  breathe  together;  our 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  307 

hopes,  joys,  pleasures,  ambitions,  interests,  are  all  the 
same ;  therefore,  whether  we  are  together  or  not  in  body, 
we  are  always  together  in  spirit.  Before  my  babe  was 
conceived,  I  knew  he  was  coming;  I  saw  the  heavens 
open  to  me  one  night,  and  a  fair,  dazzling  cherub 
appeared  at  the  furthest  end  of  a  shaft  of  light,  which 
reached  to  the  very  spot  where  I  was  reclining  under 
the  trees ;  in  a  lovely  garden  I  heard  the  sound  of  many 
instruments  of  music,  mingling  with  a  mighty  concourse 
of  voices.  I  have  sung  in  La  Scala  in  Milan  and  other 
great  theatres,  where  the  music  seemed  as  near  an 
approach  to  the  harmonies  of  heaven  as  could  be  caught 
and  imprisoned  below,  but  never  till  the  night  when 
heaven  really  opened  to  me  did  I,  or  could  I,  imagine 
what  celestial  song  might  truly  be.  My  husband  had 
just  completed  a  wonderful  painting,  an  ambitious 
attempt  to  portray  the  angel  Israfil  surrounded  with 
a  legion  of  celestial  choristers,  and  as  I  gazed  admir 
ingly,  almost  worshipfully,  into  the  canvas  to  read  the 
soul  of  what  was  depicted  thereon,  I  saw  the  face  of 
the  cherub  who  had  appeared  to  me  in  my  vision 
out  of  doors.  The  bright,  fairy-like  creation  of  my 
husband's  brush  answered  exactly  to  the  child  of  my 
enraptured  dream.  I  was  about  to  speak;  the  tiny 
hands  of  the  pictured  angel  were  stretched  toward  me 
—  a  thought  filled  my  bosom  with  rapture  too  great 
for  words.  *  *  *  My  husband  articulated  what  I  could 
not  utter,  and  with  a  countenance  illumined  with  light, 
but  one  degree  less  brilliant  than  that  of  the  shining 
company  of  my  vision,  softly  whispered  to  me,  '  He  is 
our  own,  he  came  to  me  and  told  me  so;  you  will  yet 


308  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   ROCK. 

press  him  to  your  bosom.'  *  *  *  The  next  day  I  knew 
that  I  should  be  a  mother.  *  *  *  Nine  months  passed 
swiftly,  happily  away;  no  jar  even  for  an  instant 
marred  the  intense,  unutterable  fulness  of  our  raptur 
ous  mutual  affection.  During  those  nine  months  we 
were  all  in  all  to  each  other,  and  when  at  length  the 
hour  of  my  child's  nativity  approached,  I  passed  into  a 
trance  of  rapture ;  no  one  but  my  companion  was  near 
me, —  he  alone  tended  me,  and  I  know  not  if  I  needed 
tending, —  and  when  I  awoke  from  my  trance  there  were 
three  of  us  on  earth,  for  he  who  was  erstwhile  in  heaven 
had  descended,  and  I  knew  that  an  angelic  embodiment 
was  drawing  physical  sustenance  from  my  bosom.  I 
cannot  tell  you,  even  you,  dear  lady, —  to  whom  I  can 
open  my  very  soul  and  relate  experiences  at  which  the 
world  would  scoff  and  pronounce  me  raving, —  all  that 
I  have  enjoyed  in  the  past  two  years.  I  cannot  thank 
God;  I  am  too  happy  in  the  glory  of  His  blessing  to 
praise  Him  verbally.  I  know  He  sends  His  messengers 
in  human  guise  to  earth,  and  I  am  privileged  to  be  the 
mother  of  one  of  them." 

Though  to  most  minds  such  rhapsodies  would  sound 
meaningless,  in  the  ears  of  Visalia,  who  had  had  many 
strange  and  glorious  experiences  of  her  own,  they  were 
words  of  truth  and  soberness,  and  before  she  and  those 
nearest  to  her  returned  to  resume  their  life  in  England, 
there  came  to  her  also  an  intimation  of  a  joy  that  was 
in  store.  Very  slowly  but  very  sweetly  it  dawned  upon 
her,  that  before  another  year  had  completed  its  course, 
her  high  prerogative  might  be  like  unto  Electra's,  and 
she  become  the  happy  mother  of  a  child  whose  earthly 


DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK.  309 

strength  and  loveliness  should  prove  but  a  shield  for 
heavenly  brightness  sent  down  to  illuminate  and  bless 
an  all  too  dreary  globe.  *  *  *  Two  months  of  exqui 
site  enjoyment  soon  pass;  time  which  is  laden  with  hap 
piness  seems  to  fly  on  fleetest  wings,  while  time  weighted 
down  with  care  and  sadness  moves  as  on  leaden  feet. 
Thus  do  we  realize,  if  we  reflect,  that  time  is  as  long  or 
short  to  us  as  our  mental  condition  makes  it;  we  are 
therefore  arbiters  even  of  the  length  of  our  days. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eastlake-Gore,  Junior,  returned 
to  London,  they  took  up  their  life  together  in  the  charm 
ing  villa  with  their  treasured  mother  and  sister,  and 
lived  much  as  before,  ouly  more  perfectly  knit  together 
in  every  feeling  than  when  their  now  ripened  union  was 
only  in  its  bud.  One  of  the  first  visitors  whom  they 
received  was  the  mystic  Aldebaran,  who  greeted  them 
quite  unexpectedly,  and  brought  with  him  as  a  wedding 
gift  a  magnificent  illuminated  scroll,  bearing  the  legend : 
"  Glory  be  to  God  for  the  briefness  of  man's  terrestrial 
career,  for  the  joy  of  transition  and  for  the  certainty  of 
life  immortal.  Glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

Professor  Monteith  also  called,  and  he,  too,  brought  an 
offering,  which  was  an  exquisite  model  of  an  air-ship, 
accompanied  by  an  explanatory  and  prophetic  treatise, 
the  cover  of  which  contained  the  text :  "  Happy  shall  he 
be  who  taketh  thy  little  ones  and  dasheth  them  against 
the  rock."  Beneath  the  text  there  loomed  up  out  of 
the  sea  a  tall,  massive  rock,  on  which  an  angelic  form 
was  seated,  emitting  rays  of  brightness  which  fell  on 
the  waters  beneath  in  the  form  of  a  cross  surmounted 
by  a  crown  in  the  shape  of  a  seven-pointed  star;  and 


310  DASHED   AGAINST   THE   KOCK. 

following  the  light  and  rising  by  its  aid  out  of  the 
water,  was  a  weather-beaten  seaman,  with  a  look  of  hope 
and  trust  on  his  somewhat  careworn  face,  while  his 
breath  proceeded  through  his  nostrils  in  the  form  of  a 
prayer,  which  took  shape  in  the  supplicatory  words, 
"Lead  me  to  the  rock  which  is  higher  than  I." 

Many  were  the  gifts  poured  upon  the  beautiful  young 
bride  and  bridegroom,  but  none  did  they  value  quite  so 
highly  as  these  two  suggestive  tributes  of  high  esoteric 
import,  presented  affectionately  and  understandingly  by 
friends  who  deeply  realized  the  import  of  the  tokens 
they  bestowed. 

Visalia  at  once  began  work  on  a  new  book  en 
titled,  Christ  in  Life's  Song  of  Triumph;  her  husband 
resumed  his  post  of  honor  and  influence  as  literary 
director  of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important 
weekly  papers  published  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
Health,  beauty,  and  prosperity  were  theirs,  and  what 
made  these  possessions  doubly  sweet  to  them,  was  that 
they  consecrated  all  they  had  and  were  to  the  service  of 
God  in  work  for  His  offspring. 


FINIS. 


Know  Thyself.' 

THE 


PROBLEM  OF  LIFE 

A  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE. 


W.  J.  COLVILLE.  Editor. 


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